[Indic-computing-announce] Status Report #1 (Dec 2001--Jan 2002)

[J. K. <jk...@us...>]

                Status of the Indic-Computing Project
                          20 Jan 2002

[Infrastructure]

* We got our website up at http://indic-computing.sourceforge.net/

  Two mailing lists were created for carrying discussions:
  
  * "ind...@li..." is an unmoderated
    list for developers discussing indian language software tools.

  * "ind...@li..." is an
    unmoderated list for people discussing and evolving indian
    language computing standards.

  Two other special-purpose mailing lists were also created:

  * "ind...@li..." is a moderated,
    low-volume list for project related announcements.

  * "ind...@li..." is a public list
    that contains summaries of changes to the project sources.

  We are using the excellent infrastructure for collaborative
  development hosted by SourceForge.Net.  Thank you, SourceForge!

* Web-site infrastructure in partially ready.  

  The website is today described using a rather ad-hoc mixture of SGML
  content in various forms.  The website is built and installed using
  `make', a standard program development tool available in the unix
  environment.
  
  I am looking at organizing the website better, both in terms of
  content and build infrastructure.  Suggestions are welcomed.

* The Handbook skeleton is now in place.  The Handbook is written in
  DocBook/SGML.  These SGML sources are transformed into HTML, PDF,
  and RTF formats by the build toolchain.  This infrastructure has
  been adapted from that used by the FreeBSD Documentation Project.

* CVS infrastructure (version control) for the project is being put in
  place.

  The documentation (Handbook, FAQ, the project website, etc.) and
  project sources for whatever tools we develop, will be placed under
  CVS, and made publically accessible using SourceForge.Net standard
  facilities.

[Languages]

* Dr. U. B. Pavanaja of the Kannada Ganaka Parishat (KGP) was kind
  enough to hand over a CD containing KGP's latest standards in .doc
  (MS-Word) and PDF format.  The CD also contained Microsoft
  Windows(r) executables for a standards-compliant word-processor and
  Kannada tutor.

* Neeru Sethi located and procured for the project, information on the
  Gurmukhi script, some typewriter keyboard layouts and a sample of
  popular Gurmukhi fonts for our analysis.

* Abraham Mathen has volunteered to compile information on Malayalam
  for the Handbook.

[Projects]

* We've received offers of help from many quarters.  Thanks to all who
  have responded.

* P. S. Vinod has taken up the task of helping design and implement a
  portable framework for indian language input.  This work ties into
  one of our roadmap items: providing support for web-based indian
  language input.
  
[Next Steps]

* Project website to be worked on further.  We need a "How to
  Contribute" article, listing the expectations from volunteers!
  Other infrastructure work to be completed.

* The Handbook needs editors for language specific chapters.  A call
  for Editors will be sent out, specifying the expected work loads and
  responsibilities.

* Kannada and Gurmukhi information recieved has to be brought into the
  Handbook.

* Continue on the tools and activities listed in the project roadmap.

[About these project status reports]

These project status reports are sent out approximately once a month,
their exact frequency being something of a mystery to everyone.

They are also archived under the project's website, under:

     http://indic-computing.sourceforge.net/status-reports/