Open-Source Software (OSS) is growing in popularity around the world, especially in developing countries in Asia and South America, reported translate.org.za, an open-source translation project based in South Africa, says localising open-source programs into African languages makes computers more accessible. With translated software, "these languages are suddenly players in the modern world." Neville Alexander, a former South African freedom-fighter, agrees. "An English-only or even an English-mainly policy necessarily condemns most people, and thus the country as a whole, to a permanent state of mediocrity, since people are unable to be spontaneous, creative and self-confident if they cannot use their first language," he says.
A similar approach is being taken in India, where there are 18 official languages and over 1,000 regional dialects. Shikha Pillai is one of the leaders of a team in Bangalore that is translating open-source software, including OpenOffice, into ten Indian dialects. She says "Indian-language enabled software could revolutionise the way our communications work; even the way computers are used in India."
In May 2003, the Thai government launched a subsidised "people's PC" that runs LinuxTLE, a Thai-language version of Linux. In September, Japan said it would join a project established by China and South Korea to develop localised, open-source software. Computer users around the world are discovering that open-source software speaks their language.
The Observer does not mention it, but Esperanto is among the languages already available for Linux, Mozilla and other open-source software.
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