Multilingual Applications
Magnet April 11th, 2006
Windoxs XP, OS X and Linux has just one thing in common they all are in English and probably that’s where the similarity between the three ends. However my aim is not to compare Windows XP with OS X or Linux but to highlight the fact that all big Corporations develop applications in English only and not in any other language even when it is estimated that more than half of the world’s population communicates in only 8 languages: English and Mandarin Chinese, Hindi (with Urdu), Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Bengali and finally Portuguese (Courtesy: unesco.org). There is no clear cut reason why English is so widely used, perhaps it is the dominant language in the United Kingdom, the United States, many Commonwealth nations including Australia, Canada, Malta, New Zealand and other former British colonies. Or perhaps the global influence of native English speakers in cinema, airlines, broadcasting, science, and the Internet in recent decades (Courtesy: Wikipedia)
I would love to see someone to come out with an OS or an application which is Multilingual and gives every language the due respect, which they deserve. What comes close to my mind is Utkarsh which is probably worlds first OS in a regional Language (Courtesy: Utkarsh)
I can’t stop myself from admiring the efforts IIT-Madras has made in developing Multilingual System which permit a uniform and language independent approach to designing computer applications supporting user interfaces in all the Indian languages ( Courtesy:iitm.ac.in)
Now we not only have the means but also a good reason to look beyond English and explore other languages. I would love to see more of Utkarsh in different languages.
” Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to communicate”
( Courtesy: Anonymous)
http://multilingualos.blogspot.com/