Wednesday March 29, 2006 Open Source Translation
One of the biggest reasons open source software is having such a huge impact in the world is that it empowers smaller cultural groups to have software localised for them. No matter how large a corporation may be, the economics of commercial software mean it's just impractical to even consider localisation for the vast majority of languages and locales around the world. On the other hand, all it takes with an open source community is a motivated local. I describe open source as globally localised and never cease to be impressed by the sheer power of the OpenOffice.org localisation community.
Of course, getting it right takes more than just enthusiasm. My conversations with the local Brazilian localisation team made it clear that they also had a passion for getting it right with respect to local culture too, and that they longed for access to the proper tools. So I am really pleased to be able to welcome the new Open Translation website that Sun just launched. It provides tools, resources and - most importantly - a support community for people who want to localise open source software. Makes "global localisation" a more achievable goal
Posted by webmink
( Mar 29 2006, 02:30:06 PM PST )
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