“In talking and thinking about educational applications for
Linux over the past year something has become clearer and clearer
to us. Educational software, by its very nature, has a limited
audience if it’s only available in one language. We can’t, for
example, expect eight-year-old children to be fluent in English (or
French, or Chinese) and therefore able to use software written in
those languages. By the same token, the teachers of these children
must focus on the children’s education rather than on the materials
they use. There are some very nice programs available from groups
around the world that are limited in their usability because they
are only available in one or two languages. While most of these are
available in English and no other language, there are also some
others like Ghislain Picard’s mek, xem, and lum (mechanics,
chemistry, and optics, respectively) that are only available
languages other than English. We’ve seen requests from Ghislain and
others for assistance in translating their work into other
languages, but with only spotty response. Documentation on
installing configuring and using Linux and its applications in
scholastic environments is similarly not widely available in many
languages….”
“For translation of documentation the situation is murkier. We
don’t know of any active project whose primary goal is the
translation of non-code files. There are some projects, like the
Linux Documentation Project and Linux Focus that provide their own
material in multiple languages, but these services aren’t intended
for outside groups to take advantage of. Indeed, they would
probably be overwhelmed if they opened up to general requests for
translation.”
“The Open Source Writer’s Group has a section for translators
that seems to be fairly casual. Translators list their contact
information and a description of their skills and anyone wishing a
translation can contact them. We’d like to see something like this
become a bit more formalized, either under the auspices of the OSWG
of as a stand-alone project. To that end SEUL is willing to help
anyone interested in setting up and running such a “translation
bureau” to do so. We can provide mailing lists, web space, CVS
services, and perhaps a bit more. Please contact Doug Loss if you’d
like to take on this much needed project.”