[Indic-computing-users] An important story... in India

[Frederick N. (FN) <fr...@by...>]

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Message: 2
   Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2003 11:38:58 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Sukrit D <sd...@ya...>
Subject: IndLinux.org releases Hindi interface for Gnome

IndLinux.org releases Hindi interface for Gnome

Alastair Otter
April 4 2003

IndLinux.org today announced the launch of IndLinux
Milan v0.37, a Hindi interface to Gnome, the graphical
user interface (GUI) of the GNU/Linux operating
system. The software is available as a free download
from the Web site www.indlinux.org. With IndLinux
Milan v0.37 installed, those who can read and write
Hindi can now use computers in their own language.

The organisation says this is a major step forward in
bringing the benefits of information technology to the
400 million people who speak the Hindi language.
Prakash Advani, co-founder of IndLinux.org says the
organisation has been working on localizing the
GNU/Linux operating system to Hindi for the last three
years. Localisation involves changing the menus and
other elements of the graphic user interface from
English to Hindi.

"Hindi is the third largest language in the world, yet
there are no operating systems available in this
language. IndLinux.org therefore decided to make Hindi
support available for free to create a revolution in
Indian Language Computing," says Advani.

As the world becomes increasingly digitised, Indian
Language audiences need to be brought into the
mainstream of the digital revolution so that they can
also reap the socio-economic benefits of information
technology. The IndLinux Milan software is expected to
plug a critical gap in the market, since popular
operating systems and software are available only in
English which is spoken by a mere five percent of
India.

IndLinux Milan v0.37 works on Red Hat Linux v8.0 and
the organization is working on porting it to other
distributions of the GNU/Linux operating system.
Advani said that they chose the name Milan (Hindi for
"Union") because it signifies the inclusion of India's
Hindi speaking masses into the mainstream of the
digital age.

As the cost of computers fall, the biggest bottleneck
to the widespread use of computers is the availability
of Indian language software. By making the software
available free of cost, Indlinux.org hopes that
information technology will reach each and every part
of India. IndLinux.org is a voluntary, non-profit
effort that has been supported by Netcore Solutions
Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai-based technology company. After
having localized GNU/Linux to Hindi, the organization
hopes to localize the GUI to Marathi, Gujarati and
other Indian languages.

Screenshots of the system in action can be found at
www.indlinux.org/hindi/gnome/gnome20.html.  

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