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From fsug-cusat-bounce@freelists.org Mon Feb 02 04:57:42 2004
Return-path: fsug-cusat-bounce@freelists.org Delivery-date: Mon, 02 Feb 2004 04:57:42 +0530 Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2004 05:41:41 +0800 From: Anwar AU anwar@hackermail.com Subject: [fsug-cusat] incomplete Swantantra Malayalam Computing To: fsug-cusat@freelists.org Errors-to: fsug-cusat-bounce@freelists.org Reply-to: fsug-cusat@freelists.org Message-id: 20040201214141.15376.qmail@hackermail.com MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: MIME-tools 5.41 (Entity 5.404)
Well showing a few screenshots of how a Malayalam Gnu/Linux will look is really very impressive for the layman. But that is no way to impress the guys here with a solution for a Malayalam desktop. The Swatantra Malayalam Computing (SMC) hasnt achieved anything by showing a few pics on a malayalam destop working on someone elses computer. Its easy to show some one that 'I have created a malayalam gnome by showing how it works on my computer and others who need to see this can come to my house. Every One Is Invited.' Thanks but no.
Its really easy to show the desktop icon names using a changed font, edit a few files so that a few of the easy applications are now in malayalam, rename the menu items with the font and worst of all show a web page that shows a malayalam site in full screen. This could be done on any gnu system. If this were to be seen by people of other languages they would laugh at our face saying these malayalees are'nt even capable of creating a locale of their own, and so doesnt have even the basic qualification to stand among us in the hall of locales.
As far as I know, if I am right, the first meeting for the necessity of Indians to have a localized operating system to suit their purposes was first held at Trivandrum in around 1999. The meeting concluded with a descision to make localized versions of desktops for all the languages in India. And after this, it was descided to form a group of developers in kerala to do the specific task. It was called SMC and most of them were from Trivandrum. They started their work on it, and after 3 years these pictures and a few files on how to do this on your computer, is what they have achieved.
The SMC's developers were properly funded and in the end we get to know that the work they have done is using a patented by some one else and could lead to patent problems in the future.They had taken pango as the rendering engine and used a code to support indic module which was a patented technology from IBM. Then how do we call it Swatantra Malayalam Computing. 'I am really proud of you guys. You have done a really great work'. The SMC's GPL'ed otf fonts were made from rachana fonts which was owned by the rachana group and also not even in GPL. This font could have later on made drastic impact on the project if the rachana team went to sue them in the court. But its only a few days back that the rachana came under the GPL.
But I am happy that their work could'nt materialize otherwise, it would have roused too many complications. Every one is free to correct me where i went wrong.
Thanks
True Love for freedom comes from the love for source code and through the understanding of humanity's desire to share.
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Hi, I dont know why such a mail which just critising the efforts of several volunteers, who has contributed malayalam localisation efforts. I agree that the project is not compleete in all ways, but has shown its power. Was this mail, a reply to any other mail?
The mail is filled up with negative comments.... Very sad to see such meaningless mails.
hmmmm?
Malayalam is the third most active Gnome L10N project in India and 38th in the world
Simply critising is the easiest job.....
Its was not really simple, when pango was not able to render malayalam and we dont have any "Swathantra" malayalam font....
Malayalam has the locale, which has support for all the functions, including malayalam sorting, malayalam month names, weekday names etc...
It seems this guy dont know what locale is, or he has never checked files available from SMC
and so doesnt have even the basic qualification to stand among us in the hall of locales.
Malaylam is one of the most active L10n project in India. Any idea why this persons says like this, without any facts?
I dont know about this evernt, Sorry....
This is enterly wrong. SMC is not a product of any such discussion. SMC was first created in savanah by Biju M. Its Mr. Suresh Vp, who took all effort to make smc to the current status. Now its in sarovar.
See smc.sarovar.org to see what it does. What else you expect? Be sopecific, suggestions are welcome.
The SMC's developers were properly funded
Hmmmm? Who funded SMC? Tell based on facts...
SMC is not the one who decides the "rendering engine". Pango is the rendering engine for gnome. So inorder to localise Gnome, we need pango to support our language. We have done the patch. If pango is not a free software, the entire Gnome becomes non-free. Does IBM has patent on pango? I dont know. One again, pango is the rendering engin of gnome.
No, we didnt used rachana font. For more detailes on font used in SMC please contact Biju M.
On Mon, Feb 02, 2004 at 06:20:07AM +0530, Raghavendra Bhat wrote:
Did you or Anwar AU visited the site http://smc.sarovar.org before posting this mail. Its is really sad to see people sending false mails against such voluntary efforts. Very bad. Such a senior GNUHead should not have done this (forwarding a baseless mail).
Regards
-
Dileep M. Kumar -
Raghavendra Bhat -
Rajkumar S -
Sajith VK