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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."
How much of an emerging market is Africa? Is Swahili a real barrier to entry for a potential African Consumer? Really what I ma asking is is there a market that MS is missing out on in Africa by not having Swahili? If so this is a major blow to them, if not, then I'm not sure this makes much difference at all.
I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
where Open Source really shines. You have some interested part[y|ies] that have a desire to translate software package(s) to a desired lanuage(s), and with some helpful cooperation, it can be accomplished. Whereas in a commercial environment, such a decision to translate the closed source software is overlooked because the percentage of users is too small to justify the cost of paying translators and developers.
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
This is a big deal - and is part of the reason that I'm starting to commit to really learning to use the Linux desktop environments.
I'm involved with a number of groups that are doing relief work in Africa. The problem that we're particularly involved with is the growing population of orphan children being created by the devastation of the AIDS virus. There is an immense amount of basic education that needs to happen so that these children will be able to begin rebuilding the society they are going to inherit.
Part of that education needs to be computer based - and involves simply skills like typing, using the mouse, writing reports, etc. Having a version of an office suite that is going to be available in the children's native tongue removes one significant obstacle from this process.
A group of us are in the process now of getting ready to travel to southern Africa to do a needs assessment. We need to find out what sorts of tech might work and how to get it set up and running. Linux is a pretty obvious answer - since we can install it on older hardware, and one reasonably beefy computer can serve a number of thin clients in a classroom.
Yay for group that is doing this particular localization.
In illa quae ultra sunt
Microsoft has gotten into trouble internationally with cultural problems. Free software has a natural immunity from that.
Because FOSS developers rely on the people closest to the problem to solve the problem, such cultural difficulties are minimized. It's a built-in advantage: rather than translating the program for a language, people who live in a different culture will, without thinking about it, translate the program into that culture.
As this story shows, markets for which commercial software companies can't find an adequate profit potential are ripe for introduction of FOSS. All you need is one user, one willing programmer, and one native translator - and in fact, those can all be the same person.
sigs, as if you care.
I am pretty sure the spelling is standardized. Part of Swahili's appeal is the consistancy of the grammar (and spelling). Eeach letter in the alphabet has a consistent phonetic sound no matter which word it is used in. "accoona" is NOT an alternate spelling for "hakuna". Hakuna is a compound word: "kuna" meaning "have", negated by placing "ha" on the front--literally "not-have". There is no letter C in Swahili. The letter K is always used instead.