Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Open Source Software Serves Niche Markets

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the they-roll-the-concrete-over-it dept.

mahendra writes "News.com is carrying an article about localisation of OpenOffice.org. 'So, what's new about that?', you may ask. The article talks about the potential markets that proprietary software markets are ignoring. By the time they realize the potential, Open Source software will have made deep inroads into these markets..."

2 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. And this is surprising because ... ? by crovira · · Score: 5, Informative

    Localization of software is one of the easiest things to do *IF* your software is set up properly.

    Coming from Canada, where everything is in French as well as in English, I learned very early on (like day dot,) that you had to set up your software without any strings in it.

    By using only symbolic references and setting up a dictionary of text strings or icon references you can refer to any 'local' attribute without having to muck with the code.

    By switching the dictionary you can then switch the language that your users see without any performence hits and without any code changes.

    Furthermore, by laying out the text in ''plages'' and letting the dictionary fill in the details, you achieve a much simpler screen and.or prport layout.

    Debugging is easier too since you refer to the symbols you used for programming instead of whatever your users refer to (as this changes almost from user to user.)

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
  2. Microsoft already serve many niches by Albanach · · Score: 4, Informative
    Mcrosoft already make software available in Welsh, and have reacted favourably to including Scots Gaelic, spoken by less than 60,000 people, in their language dictionaries.

    They do this by making those that are interested fund the development. For example the Linguistics Institute of Ireland worked on the Irish Gaelic spell checker. The Welsh work was undertaken by the University of Wales and the Welsh Language Board.