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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."
Opensource shines in small under-served markets. Its allows small communities and organizations to bring effective computing power to everyone, not just the rich first world. I have been using Openoffice for over a year and it is a 95% replacement for Microsoft Word.
Well done Openoffice team!!
Q. What is Calvin's monster snowman called? A. The Torment Of Existence Weighed Against The Horror of Non Being
Big or not it is still another feature to add to the very small set of features that OpenOffice has and Office lacks. Makes it a somewhat more meaningful project.
How is this a bad thing or a waste or time? It's one more developing place of the world that has a chace to use good, quality software. It's not like this venture is a going to make them charge you more for the OpenOffice.org suite, now is it?
I like it! Uhuru has a nice political ring to it, and doesn't have the confusion to go with multiple meaning of "free." You could lose the Q and X keys on the keyboard as well.
I think it is great to do a project like this. As far as cost goes, you have to remember that the Gross National Income of all sub-saharan africa is about equal to that of The Netherlands. Per capita income $400/yr. Yes, computer literate people make more than that, but money is a real issue.
An interesting side issue is the use of Swahili. Tanzania counts only swahili as an official language. Most business is done in Swahili. In Kenya, English and Swahili are official languages, and are taught in parallel in school. It is regarded as showing a higher status if you speak in English, so swahili is relagated to second place, and tribal language limited to close friends and family. I suspect that most computer users in Kenya would be more than happy to work in english.
I still admire the fact that kids who live in mud huts and have never been in a car can speak three languages. I struggle enough with one!
Well, I realize that you have experienced Klingon being spoken on TV, but the truth is that there really isn't anyone speaking Klingon in the real world. That is called fiction, and you see a lot of it on TV.
Swahili, on the other hand, is an actual language, spoken by actual people. Just not people on your TV. That may be what is confusing you.
Not even sure where to start on your second question...........