open source: the new paradigm for international digital content development? lrc '04: open...
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Open Source: the new paradigm for international digital content development?
LRC '04: Open Source Localisation
21-22 September 2004
Headquarters: Raleigh, NC
Founded 1993
Operating in 16 countries
Cash: $930 million
FY 04 revenue: $126.1 million
Red Hat
Localisation: Open Source
What is open source? How has the open source achieved such a depth and
breadth of language coverage? How can the open source movement leverage the existing
developments of the proprietary localisation industry? What do the large multinational digital content providers
have to learn from the success?
All software is written with source code
Open Source software code protected by a special license that ensures everyone
has access to that code Freedom means choice. Choice means power
Proprietary software development occurs within one company Programmers write code, hide it behind binaries, charge
customers to use the software then charge them more to fix it when it breaks
Linux is a major new operating system that was developed using open source methodologies
Linux is FREE ~ if your time is worth nothing
Free Binaries Sold Binaries
Open (free) Source Apache; KDE; Mozilla Red Hat; SuSE
Closed (not available) Source
Adobe Acrobat; Microsoft Internet
Explorer; Real Player
Microsoft XP; Oracle
Open source and Closed source
The state of open source today The open source model has proven itself
● Delivering fully competitive operating system and application environments
Customers are adopting open source solutions because they provide unbeatable price/performance, security, and vendor independence
Open source is now in the mainstream● Suppliers – OEMs, ISVs, channels, technology integrators● Customers – corporate, academia, commerce, government, end
users
Why open source?
Standards. Technology built on true open standards
Value. Customers pay for what they need. Lower TCO
Innovation. Unmatched speed of development model
Quality. Open source model builds better software
Choice. No vendor lock-in
Flexibility. Full customization capability
Nov. 2002
Rise of Linux
“Are you planning to increase your Linux usage in the next two years?” [Base: 50 $1 billion-plus companies]
2002 Share
Yes
No, usage decreasesNo, usage stays flat
Don't know
2%
72%
6%
20%
Forrester Research, March 2003
Soon Only Two Operating Systems Will Matter
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20070
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Worldwide Server OS Shipments, 2000-2007
WindowsLinuxUnixNetwareOther
Source: IDC, Sep. 2003
Note: Only paid shipments are included
The Contribution Paradigm
Horizontal - Desktops, Web Browsers, Office Suites● Applications with a broad user base, gain volunteer
contributions in many areas:● Software Developers, Technical Translators, Writers
● Majority of GNOME and KDE desktops translated by volunteers
Vertical – CAD, Graphic Tools● Applications with a specialized purpose gain volunteer
contributions from the specialist and limited number of users Vendor Contributions
● Vendors generally have specific time tables and quality criteria● Pay technical translators to contribute to open source projects● Coordinate localization quality assurance and testing● Develop internationalization software and support
Fedora Project
The Fedora Project is a Red-Hat-sponsored and community-supported open source project
It is also a proving ground for new technology that may eventually make its way into Red Hat products
It is not a supported product of Red Hat, Inc. The goal of The Fedora Project is to work with the Linux
community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from free software
Development will be done in a public forum The project will produce time-based releases of Fedora Core
about 2-3 times a year with a public release schedule.
Fedora Project
Translation goals of the project
● Foster community of quality
● Focus on establishing reference terminology
● Establish roles and responsibilities via Translator Portal
● Self-organising system
Fedora Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Innovators
EarlyAdopters
EarlyMajority
LateMajority
Laggards
T
he C
hasm
Fedora: Performance
Brazillian (68) 95
Spanish (59) 97
German (29) 52
Portuguese (23) 34
French (21) 31
Italian (19) 36
Hungarian (16) 20
Dutch (16) 29Russian (15) 23
Japanese (14) 24 Turkish (14) 18Korean (12) 33
Romanian (11) 30
Bulgarian (11) 30
Polish (11) 33
Simplified Chinese (10) 17
Indonesian (<10) 16
Trad Chinese (<10) 15
Others (138) 248 Community Translators(Feb) Sep
56% GrowthAvg Inc 50/mth
879 Volunteer Translators for 77 Languages
GNOME Project
The goal of the GNOME Translation Project is to translate GNOME applications and documentation to every language in existance
Tasks● Translate po files ● Translate general user documents● Translate application documentation
Status● GNOME 2.8: 88 Languages● Including Complex Text Languages , such
as Thai, Indic, and Arabic
Open Source Globalisation: Summary
Software Internationalization● mature multi-lingual (Unicode) graphic toolkits:
● Qt, GTK+● maturing input method technology:
● IIIMF – Red Hat/QUT Research Project● wide ranging locale support in system libraries:
● glibc, 160+ locales defined Software Localization
● mature message string processing library, gettext Multilingual Documents and Data
● no dominate process or toolkit Multilingual Websites
● no dominate process or toolkit
Learning Opportunities from Proprietary World
Beyond software applications
● open source moving into documentation, web applications
● Proprietary localization industry has already faced these challenges
Standards for multilingual document translation
● TMX - kbabel initial support
● XLIFF - kbabel (Red Hat/QUT Research Topic)
Opportunities for digital content providers
Open source vendors still require translation services● need to work with open source formats● open source community is a meritocracy● prior volunteer contributions have significant value● community engagement is paramount
Open source will soon meet localization open standards● improve ability to interact with open source vendors, and
community The time is now
● Linux is the fastest growing operating system in the world!
In a CIO Magazine survey of 375 IT executives, 54% said within five years their dominant platform would be open source.