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Common Sense Advisory Blogs
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Send a Kid to Localization Camp!
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Discussions about localizing open source software into less commonly spoken languages like Bulgarian (6.6 million speakers) are on the rise, as reflected in the recent publication of a UNDP primer and by this conference in the Balkans. Everyone wants to benefit from open source, but countries with relatively small populations of speakers for their languages lag in localized software availability. Languages with many speakers tend to get localized variants of any software, whether it's open source, shareware, or commercial offerings. Volunteer localizers want to see their work widely used, while for-profit suppliers look for a return on their localization investment.
This meeting hit the localization-by-volunteers nail squarely on the head: "volunteer activists have neither the time nor the resources to follow changes of software and documentation versions." In other words, software might get localized, but volunteers lack the time, software tools, and discipline to do the whole job or keep the software up to date. The delegates discussed the practical issue of how to match demand for open source in a given country with the voluntary localization and translation resources in that market.
The delegates came up with the idea of a "regional localization camp" sponsored by open source packagers such as Novell and Red Hat. This camp would pay young localization enthusiasts to work on paid projects for these commercial suppliers. The companies, the kids at camp, and software users in their markets would all benefit. It sounds like an experiment that Red Hat and other companies packaging open source software should try. The outlay would be small, but the return could be large. These software vendors could work with national governments, commerce and education ministries, and trade associations to identify candidates for Open Source Localization Summer Camp.
Having just visited a Boy Scout summer camp, this idea intrigues us with visions of campfire gatherings where enthusiasts heatedly argue the merits of their favorite visual localization tools, dissect translation memory problems, and produce localized Linux modules instead of leather vests and tie-dyed t-shirts. It's worth a shot.
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