Localization Camp, Red Hat, PuneA voluntary, free of cost training camp of software professionals, students and faculty was conducted on March 20th and 21st 2010 to promote use and development of Уfree softwareФ in local languages like Marathi, Hindi, etc. The Уlocalization campФ was organized by Swathanthra Malayalam Computingа (SMC), Uncode (Lokayat’s Free software Initiative) and CoFSUG (CoEP’s free software Users group). All these organizations have been working towards promotion, use and development of Уfree softwareФ in local languages. The venue was provided by УRed HatФ. One way it was a great show of how a free software efforts in the field of Indic language comuting is no way lessser than any properitary software.
The organizers conducted this camp out of the firm belief that for IT to reach to masses , it must be available for use in vernacular languages. The camp was also aimed at promoting Уfree softwareФ. Free software is that software which can be copied, studied, modified and redistributed as a right. Please note that the word УfreeФ is used in the sense of УfreedomФ here and not in the sense of Уno costФ. Software like Microsoft Windows, Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw, etc. are NOT free software. GNU/Linux is an operating system which is Уfree softwareФ and has emerged as the most potent competitor to the monopoly of Microsoft Windows. For example Mozilla Firefox is a free software replacement of Microsoft Internet Explorer, OpenOffice is a free software replacement of Microsoft office. Many GNU/Linux systems are available free of cost, are virus free, more stable and secure than Windows based systems.
As Linux can be copied and distributed, it leads naturally to development by a community through co-operation and sharing. The organizers have been a part of the УLinux communityФ which develops and propagates use of various Linux based software using the Уfree softwareФ model, often free of cost. This camp was part of the community effort towards taking IT to people and also propagating the use of GNU/Linux.

Nearly 25 students and professionals participated in this training program. Software professionals who pioneered software development in Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam delivered presentations on various software tools and technologies used in localization of different software. Ankit Patel and Praveen A explained localisation process used in GNOME, a very popular desktop interface and collection of applications like text editors, calculators. Participants got a real time hands on experience in translating GNOME applications. Software like Lokalize, poedit, emacs were used for translating these applications from English to Indian languages like Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and Malayalam.

Naveen Kumar explained various applications like Anumaan -which guess words based on characters or words already typed (this is useful for people who difficulty in typing due to disabilities), Sphinx -which detects spoken words sentences and converts them to text, Dhvani -a software which can read text in Indian languages and produce sound (it is very useful for blind people). Rajesh Ranjan talked about work done to translate frequently used words in many different applications (FUEL or frequently used entries in localisation project). The participants decided to conduct more such events in various colleges around Pune. Runa Bhattacharjee explained difficulties faced by translators like finding correct translations for many situations. There was a good discussion on the importance of translating applications to local languages. Runa asked the participants if it is easier for teaching people English considering the difficulties faced. Rishikesh of Lokayat said that Уa language is associated with knowledge and culture and people find it important to preserve itФ. Participants observed it is always easier to find solutions or work around to these challenges than expecting everybody to learn English.