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OpenOffice.org In Swahili

linhux writes "A reported on Gnuheter (in Swedish) and elsewhere, OpenOffice.org has been translated to Swahili in a joint collaboration effort of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and a company called IT+46, and funded by the university and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Neither Microsoft Office nor Windows supports Swahili. Currently, only the Tanzanian dialect has been completed, but Kenyan, Congo and Ugandan dialects are on their way. It's called Jambo OpenOffice and is part of the Kilinux Open Swahili Localization Project."

13 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. I think it's "Hakuna" anyway by SIGALRM · · Score: 2, Funny
    OpenOffice.org has been translated to Swahili
    Accoona matata. I didn't find news of this in the Google rival's results; no worries.
    --
    Sigs cause cancer.
  2. Finally! by Anonymous+Custard · · Score: 1, Funny

    Now that it supports Swahili, OOo is ready for prime-time!

  3. Re:Jambo! by Steve+Embalmer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nime farahi sana kukutana na we-we.

  4. Great... by Ckwop · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now only Kilingon and Yiddish remain..

    Simon.

  5. Seriously, well done : ) by CGP314 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yawn. I'll be impressed when it's available in esperanto.


    -Colin

  6. Let's try the new meme! by Walkiry · · Score: 1, Funny

    In Korea only old people speak Swahili...

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  7. Re:Klingon by archen · · Score: 2, Funny

    I disagree. Anyone who wants to translate Open Office into Klingon shouldn't be a part of regular society and is best left to working hard in their basement on the "Klingon translation project" instead of wandering free and pestring the rest of the civilized world.

    So by all means, translate away! =)

  8. Re:Jambo! by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 4, Funny
    Nime farahi sana kukutana na we-we.

    My mother is a hamster?

  9. Open source software very important in Africa... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In a move IBM offices are hailing as a major step in the company's ongoing worldwide telecommunications revolution, M'wana Ndeti, a member of Zaire's Bantu tribe, used an IBM notebook computer yesterday to crush a nut.

    Ndeti, who spent 20 minutes trying to open the nut by hand, easily cracked it open by smashing it repeatedly with the powerful computer.

    "I could not crush the nut by myself," said the 47-year-old Ndeti, who added the savory nut to a thick, peanut-based soup minutes later. "With IBM's help, I was able to break it." Ndeti discovered the nut-breaking, ThinkPad R51 yesterday, when IBM was shooting a commercial in his southwestern Zaire village. During a break in shooting, which shows African villagers eagerly teleconferencing via computer with Japanese schoolchildren, Ndeti snuck onto the set and took the notebook computer, which he believed would serve well as a "smashing" utensil.

    IBM officials were not surprised the longtime computer giant was able to provide Ndeti with practical solutions to his everyday problems. "Our consulting services offer people all over the world solutions that fit their specific needs," said Herbert Ross, IBM's director of marketing. "Whether you're a nun cloistered in an Italian abbey or an Aborigine in Australia's Great Sandy Desert, IBM has the ideas to get you where you want to go today."

    According to Ndeti, of the Thinkpad's many powerful features, most impressive was its hard plastic casing, which easily sustained several minutes of vigorous pounding against a large stone. "I put the nut on a rock, and I hit it with the computer," Ndeti said. "The computer did not break. It is a good computer."

    Ndeti was so impressed with the ThinkPad that he purchased a new, state-of-the-art IBM OpenPower (TM) Linux server, complete with a 1.5 GHz POWER5 (TM) microprocessor, an internal DVD-ROM drive and two 10/100/1000 ethernet adapters. The tribesman has already made good use of the computer system, fashioning a gazelle trap out of its wires, a boat anchor out of the monitor and a crude but effective weapon from its mouse.

    "This is a good computer," said Ndeti, carving up a just-captured gazelle with the computer's flat, sharp internal processing device. "I am using every part of it. I will cook this gazelle on the keyboard." Hours later, Ndeti capped off his delicious gazelle dinner by smoking the computer's 200-page owner's manual.

    IBM spokespeople praised Ndeti's choice of computers. "We are pleased that the Bantu people are turning to IBM for their business needs," said company CEO William Allaire. "From Kansas City to Kinshasa, IBM is bringing the world closer together. Our cutting-edge technology is truly creating a global village."

  10. Christ, liberals are going to go apeshit by Nine+Tenths+of+The+W · · Score: 3, Funny

    Expect long lectures about how Western intellectual imperialism is destroying the nascent African software development industry

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    1. Re:Christ, liberals are going to go apeshit by zulux · · Score: 2, Funny

      Expect long lectures about how Western intellectual imperialism is destroying the nascent African software development industry


      I'd do it, but I'm too busy memorizing the streaking pattern of Noam Chompskys toilet bowl. You can use the streaks, along with psudo-zen, to predict the past!

      Ta Ta! I'm off to drive in my Prius.

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  11. Re:Its not profitable by nomadic · · Score: 2, Funny

    Windows XP and Office 2003 recently became available in Welsh

    You can tell it's the Welsh version because vowels are disabled...

    th qck brwn fx jmpd vr th lz dg.

  12. Re:Jambo! by fimbulvetr · · Score: 4, Funny

    and your father smells of elderberries!