It is the GNU/Linux OS which supports Malayalam Language. The language interface for GNOME and KDE will be Malayalam. All menu items,toobar items,help documents etc. will be in Malayalam. Console applications like pine,emacs etc. will be in Malayalam. Also it will contain lots of applications usefull for Malayalam users of GNU/Linux. Programming language interface of C,C++,Python etc. will change to Malayalam, then I/O will be in Malayalam. Atlast the whole computing will be in Malayalam. You can see the screen shots here.

2. What is the status of the project now?

Now rendering engine development,font creation(TTF,OTF,BDF etc), techinical terms translation are under progress. And More details are collecting about translation.

3. Which are the fonts available for Malayalam GNU/Linux?

Visit Downloads section.

4. Is those fonts are with UNICODE encoding?

Font encoding scheme is different from character encoding. Unicode is a Character encoding. TTF fonts we now use doesn't have support to deal with character encoding schemes like Unicode. We are planning to develop Open Type Fonts. Open Type Fonts support Unicode better than other encoding schemes.

5. Is there any tools available for translation

Yes, for GNOME translation GTranslator, and for KDE translation Kbabel can use. And lots of things can be done in GNU Emacs.

6. What is the importance of files pot,pox,po,mo ?

These are the files to make changes to translate an application.

7. How can I contribue to this project?

First join the project group. And then select an application to translate. Follow the guide lines of the coordinators. Now actual translation of any application is not started, so you have to wait for some time. Otherwise you can participate in discussions goin on in the mailing list and do some works.

8. How can I input data into my Malayalam GNU/Linux? Inscript based input method is supported now. Other methods are under development.

9. If I have a question about Malayalam GNU/Linux, where I will ask?

Post a message to smc-users@nongnu.org

Copyright (C) 2002 SMC Project Team

Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.

Updated: $Date: 2002/10/25 08:15:24 $ $Author: baijum81 $