[Oriya-group] The future of Indian-language open-source computing and project Rebati

[Gora Mohanty]

Hello,
  I have just spent the last twelve days or so
travelling to the Linux-
Bangalore 2004 meet, and the summit on localization
organized by MAIT, the
industry liaison wing of TDIL. I also had informal
meetings with a variety of
people interested in harnessing the possibilities
offered by computing for
social and economic development in India. To my mind,
this is an exciting and
yet worrisome time for such efforts. While the
environment is right for a
collaboration of like-minded people in these areas to
put together their work
to build something that can make a genuine difference,
such an effort has yet
really to take off and there are significant vested
interests against it. As
with the Rebati project, IndLinux and other such
initiatives find themselves
at a cross-roads, where they either take wing and soar
into the future or
plummet to the oblivion of noble but failed attempts.
I will discuss some
salient points from my trip in the context of how best
to carry Rebati
forward. The intent is to spur discussion on these
issues, culminating in a
meeting of interested folk at Srujanika on Sun., the
19th of Dec. (see other
post about this).

1. IndLinux organization and collaboration with CDAC
and TDIL: after much
   talking on this issue, there is broad consensus
among the principal
   Indlinux participants on how best to put together a
consortium. A white
   paper on the subject is being drafted, and formal
proceedings are expected
   to begin soon. The objective of the consortium is
to support all forms of
   open-source computing in Indic languages. It will
provide technical and
   organizational support to all language teams,
facilitate interaction and a
   sharing of efforts among them, and will seek to
channel funds to them for
   their localization efforts. It will also look to
deploy open-source
   solutions among governmental and non-governmental
bodies, as well as among
   the general public. The hope is to provide a
working desktop and a minimal
   set of applications so as to build a user
community. It will also seek to
   be involved in setting in open language standards,
and will look to
   collaborate with the government and interested
parties in promoting
   low-cost, open-source computing solutions that are
attuned to Indian
   needs. The consortium will be organized as a
foundation along the lines of
   the GNOME, Mozilla or Apache foundations. The plan
is for the people in the
   Janabhaarathi program at CDAC-Mumbai, especially
Dr. Irani, to act as our
   liaison with TDIL. TDIL itself is now more willing
to work with open-source
   representatives.
     This sounds great on the face of it, but presents
an additional problem
   for the Rebati project. While we should definitely
look to be involved in 
   the IndLinux consortium, this will dilute our
manpower resources, which are
   already stretched thin.

2. I can now see various means of funding an active
Oriya localization effort.
   For example, we are going to apply to CDAC-Mumbai
for funds for the
   specific task of localizing OpenOffice to Oriya. We
also plan on moving to
   the Tamil team model of intensive localization
camps rather than the
   long-drawn out way that we were using for the GNOME
desktop. Funding for
   such camp can come from various sources. Redhat
India is interested in
   hiring a person to serve as the coordinator for the
development of Oriya
   computing.
     While it does not seem too difficult to attract
funds, and it might even
   be possible to support a person working fulltime on
Oriya computing issues,
   our problem lies in our lack of a formal
organization that can make
   appropriate use of these funds. For the most part,
we have yet to form a
   team that shows its commitment to the project with
action rather than
   words.

3. Localization and native-language computing is now
big business all over the
   world, and commercial companies and educational
institutions are starting
   to wake up to this fact. There is an initiative at
the University of
   Limerick in Ireland which is starting to put
together a professional
   organization for localizers that will provide
courses and certification
   procedures for people working in this area.
     We are planning on working with them on course
development, and using
   local, commercial training institutes that will
provide these courses and
   certifications for a fee. This is, however, a
long-term process of manpower
   development, and will have little immediate impact
on the needs of project
   Rebati, apart from further diluting our resources.

4. There is an urgent need to interact with people and
organizations that have
   interests overlapping with ours. This includes
social activists, NGOs,
   educators, local-language newspaper and magazine
editors, high-minded
   government officials, and even commercial
companies. They can help us in
   identifying the areas that we need to provide
open-source solutions for,
   and will eventually end up becoming part of the
open-source community. As
   technically inclined people, we often tend to
overlook important issues
   like how to put together and efficiently deploy a
solution that addresses
   the needs of people at the grassroots level, while
remaining commercially
   and socially viable. On the other hand, people who
have knowledge in these
   areas are often daunted by computing and
technology. A synergestic union
   between such groups is, to my mind, indispensable
if we are to cross the
   hurdle of being a noble effort doomed to failure,
and actually provide some
   benefit to the Rebatis of Orissa and the world.

Regards,
Gora


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