[Fsf-friends] Query: Free font for Malayalam...

[Frederick Noronha]

Any reports on how this is progressing? FN

http://www.apdip.net/news/malayalam/index.htm
Free Font For Malayalam
Abstract

The role of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in common man^=D2s=
=20
life is increasing. However, only a small fraction of people are able to=20
utilize the benefits. A major barrier in the promotion of computer usage in=
=20
a country like India is largely due to the fact that there are hardly any=
=20
software in any of the Indian scripts. In a country where nearly one third=
=20
of the population lives below $1/day, the cost of ICT applications is still=
=20
prohibitively expensive. The cost of ICT applications is primarily due to=
=20
two costs; the hardware cost and the software costs. While hardware costs=
=20
have been coming down and are inevitable to a certain extent, software=20
costs have not acted as a major constraint in applying ICT applications in=
=20
developing countries.

The free software movement has been addressing the issue of making=20
available information to all as a basic right. While some basic software=20
are today available in free downloadable forms over the Internet, these=20
software do not cater to the fonts in Malayalam, which is the language of=
=20
30 million Keralites in Kerala and at least 10 million outside.

The project proposes to create free software with local language=20
(Malayalam) support in accordance with the established standards so that=20
ICT applications can be made available at low cost in the language of the=
=20
people. Further, the developed codes are proposed to be made available on=
=20
the Internet so that people can not only freely use them but also develop=
=20
on them.

Specifically, the project aims to create Free Font for Malayalam, create=20
toolkit (toolkits are basic building blocks in creating Graphical User=20
Interface based applications) with Malayalam support, and create a=20
localised desktop and office productivity applications and documentation in=
=20
Malayalam. This will surely help in ICT penetration in Kerala, spur=20
development of similar fonts on free software for other local languages in=
=20
India and other parts of Asia Pacific, create the base for further=20
development in software with local language support thus enabling a larger=
=20
segment of the population to enjoy the benefits of information technology.

Background and Justification of the Project
ICT has potential to play an important role in improving the life of common=
=20
man in a developing country. Many initiatives have already been taken in=20
this regard. At the same time it is also true that only very few people are=
=20
able to take advantage of ICT and the high costs of hardware and software=
=20
are in certain ways perpetuating the development divide through a digital=
=20
divide. A minority population, that is able to afford the high cost, are=20
able to benefit from the ICT revolution and a large majority is getting=20
further marginalized in the process.

Two major reasons for this digital divide are:

Non availability of content in regional languages

The high cost of software.

Kerala is one of the southern states of India lying nearly 9 to 13 degrees=
=20
North and having a population of nearly 30 million out of which nearly 74%=
=20
live in rural area (2001 census). It is important to note that the rural=20
population has gone up from 73.5% to 74% during 1991 to 2001. Apart from an=
=20
elected State Legislature, the State also has multi-layered elected local=
=20
bodies. There are 992 Grama Panchayats (Village level councils) and 58=20
Municipal Councils and Corporations representing the rural and urban areas=
=20
respectively. Kerala, known as ^=D1God^=D2s own country^=D2 for its natural=
 beauty=20
and which makes it one of the top tourist destinations of the world, has=20
also initiated various programs/steps to make the benefits of information=
=20
technology reach common people through innovative projects. Although Kerala=
=20
has a literacy level of 90.92% (2001 census) (male 94.20% and female=20
87.86%), the population connected to Internet remain shockingly below 1%,=
=20
the issues relating to lack of connectivity remain a big problem.

Today, Malayalam enabled software is scarce. Those available are for Word=
=20
Processing alone. Malayalam usage in computers is limited to using the=20
computer as an electronic typewriter and for publishing. The major reason=
=20
for this is the lack of Operating Systems supporting Malayalam. To add to=
=20
this, the Malayalam font system for the global standard ^=D6 the Unicode - =
has=20
not been built. As a result, it is not possible to have an ICT=20
infrastructure with Malayalam support.

Another issue is the very high cost of proprietary software. If Malayalam=
=20
font is developed in proprietary software, the cost of the same will make=
=20
it prohibitively costly for using it on a larger scale. Low income=20
populations will in particular, find it exceedingly difficult to use the=20
resulting system, thus making the digital divide even more dominant. The=20
alternative proposed is the development of local content in free Software.=
=20
Freedom associated with free software enables one to make modifications to=
=20
it (to support Malayalam) and make it available to people around the world.

Project Objectives
The benefits of Information Technology are reaching only a very small=20
minority, thus creating a digital divide. The two major issues here are=20
lack of availability of software with local language support and the very=
=20
high cost of software.

This Project aims to reduce this digital divide by creating localised=20
versions of free software. This project will create Free Font for=20
Malayalam, create a toolkit (toolkits are basic building blocks in creating=
=20
GUI based applications) with Malayalam support, create localised desktop=20
and office productivity applications and documentation in Malayalam. This=
=20
will create the base for further development in software with local=20
language support, thus enabling a larger segment of the population to enjoy=
=20
the benefits of information technology.

Further, the developed codes are proposed to be made available on the=20
Internet so that people can not only freely use them but also develop on th=
em.

Project Benefits/ Beneficiaries
The project foresees various benefits arising out of it. The direct impact=
=20
arising out of this would be large-scale development of content in local=20
language. Additionally, the content would be more participative and,=20
therefore, more localized in terms of needs and requirements, issues and=20
solutions etc. Inspite of having more than 90% literacy for over one=20
decade, the Kerala state continues to remain low on PC and Internet=20
penetration in the country. Development of local content for a state like=
=20
Kerala, with high literacy will lead to change in the society and economy.

Some important aspects are

Usage: Tools in ICT will become more and more accessible to people who=20
don^=D2t know English but know to read and write Malayalam. This implies=20
access to majority of people in Kerala.

Education: Education for majority in schools is in Malayalam language. This=
=20
will be enable development of educational software in local language.

Date archiving: Archiving of vast amount of data available becomes=20
possible. The knowledge archiving and retrieval is the major application of=
=20
ICT. Till now we are forced to use English language to archive our=20
knowledge, our history. This has inherent limitations.

Economic: This will also help in development of new ICT enabled services in=
=20
local languages etc.

e-Governance: Support for local language becomes easy for all the=20
e-governance programs of the Government.

Apart from benefits arising to Kerala, the project will have lessons for=20
developing similar fonts in other local languages. Asia Pacific, rich in=20
culture and languages cannot be dependent on English alone. Indian alone=20
has 17 official languages. The experience gained through this project will=
=20
encourage other similar efforts in other languages.

Project Sustainability
The software developed by the Project will be loaded free on the Internet=
=20
enabling anyone interested to download it and use it. It will also enable=
=20
others interested in it, to develop it further so that there is an ongoing=
=20
mechanism to upgrade the software. This would ensure continuous ongoing=20
upgrading of software and its long-term sustainability.

Project Methodology
The aim of the project is to create a comprehensive set of software for=20
computing in the local language. The Project involves the following tasks:

Font: The first step in bringing a new language to computers is creating a=
=20
font for that language. The font contains information about shape of=20
characters in that language. This project aims to create a font based on=20
Unicode character encoding scheme. Unicode is the new standard to encode=20
data from languages around the world. It is the most accepted standard now.=
=20
During the development of this font, creation of font encoding scheme for=
=20
Malayalam is also necessary. Lack of a font-encoding scheme is now an issue=
=20
for development of more fonts for Malayalam.

Toolkits: Indian languages have got a special property of change in shape=
=20
of characters depending on context. Hence, these languages are referred to=
=20
as complex ^=D6 text languages. All the software using graphical interface =
are=20
built using some Toolkit. Toolkits are basic building blocks in creating=20
software. Localisation of the toolkits will make the creation of Malayalam=
=20
supported software easier. The work will be on a cross platform GUI toolkit=
=20
called GTK. A major component in this is to create a renderer for Malayalam=
=20
and adding Malayalam support for freely available toolkits.

Localisation of Applications: Localisation of software involves developing=
=20
localized applications on common utilities like Office suite, Desktop, and=
=20
other productivity applications.

Localising Desktop + Basic Applications ^=D6 Involves packaging and=20
application translation. This task can be started only after making toolkit=
=20
work.

Localisation of Office Applications ^=D6 Involves localizing office=20
productivity applications like Word processor, Presentation application,=20
Spreadsheet, Groupware. Additional packages like Vector and Raster Graphic=
=20
tools, Plotting, Project Management, Finance, Diagramming, Communication=20
etc. can be added.

Internet Applications ^=D6 This task consists of localizing basic Internet=
=20
tools like Browser (Translation), Mail client, IRC, Instant Messenger.

Database ^=D6 Localised sorting support will be implemented. Postgre SQN wi=
ll=20
be used as the database and modifications will be made in to it.

Localising terminal applications ^=D6 This is mainly for people who want to=
=20
use machines with low resource and without graphic interfaces.

Documentation: Manuals are essential for suitable documentation and for a=
=20
new user to get started with the application. These Manuals will be=20
developed in both English and Malayalam. Translation of these manuals will=
=20
help a lot of people who want to learn and use computer themselves.
K-BIP & FSF India has initiated some work in the aforesaid direction. The=
=20
present work includes work on customizing the GNU/Linux (Free Operating=20
System) to support Malayalam.

Project Timeline/ Phases/ Team
Nine months encompassing font development, toolkits, localization of=20
applications and project documentation.

The Project is divided into four phases. The first phase is Font=20
development and this activity involves 1 Programmer, 1 Graphics Expert and=
=20
1 Draftsman. The second phase is the building of Toolkits and this involves=
=20
3 Programmers. The third phase is the Localization of Applications in which=
=20
9 Programmers, 1 Translator and 3 Data Entry Operators will be involved.=20
The fourth phase is the Documentation and 1 Language Translator, 1 Proof=20
Reader and 1 Data Entry Operator will be involved in this phase.

Project Outputs
This Project will create a Free localized GNU /Linux Desktop system. The=20
components of this will be:

A Malayalam Font

Localised Toolkit for Malayalam

A collection of commonly used Applications (Word Processor, Email client,=
=20
Browser, Database etc.)

Documentation for the software in Malayalam

Project Monitoring
The Output of this project is a collection of software. The evaluation and=
=20
monitoring will be done with the help of National Informatics Centre, which=
=20
is the apex institution in the area of Computing and Information Technology=
=2E

The Font must contain all glyphs from the ISFOC Standard for Malayalam. And=
=20
the encoding will have to be Unicode based. The Toolkits will be verified=
=20
by creating sample graphical applications using the same. Usually the test=
=20
code will be available with Toolkit. The test programs will be in 'C'=20
programming language.

Localization of Application will be verified by looking through all the=20
messages of the application in the message database.

Documentation will be verified with help of a language expert by comparing=
=20
it with the original document in Malayalam. Random Samples will be taken=20
for this.

Project Implementors

Implementing Organisation ^=D6 Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion (K-BIP=
)=20
is a non-profit autonomous body under aegis of the Industries Department of=
=20
the Government of Kerala. It is envisaged for promoting the potential=20
industrial activity in the state of Kerala. It is the state level agency=20
for Asia Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (UN-APCTT), responsible=
=20
for transfer of technology for SMEs. It is also involved in promoting=20
e-governance in Kerala through various initiatives like online applications=
=20
for various Government applications, online payment for Government payments=
=20
etc. The project is being carried out in close coordination with Secretary,=
=20
Information Technology, Government of Kerala.

Partner Organisation - The Free Software Foundation is a world-renowned=20
organisation founded by Richard M. Stallman in the USA in 1984. FSF=20
believes that all software should be free as software is information and=20
the withholding of information is wrong and a denial of a human right. The=
=20
first FSF Chapter in India was started in India in Trivandrum, Kerala.

Project Management
The Project Team will be headquartered in the State Capital,=20
Thiruvananthapuram. The Project Director and Coordinator is the Chief=20
Executive of K-BIP and Secretary (Industries) Government of Kerala. The=20
Project Director will oversee the work of two Project Managers who, in=20
turn, will steer the other members of the Project Team. The Chief Executive=
=20
of K-BIP is Secretary (Industries), Government of Kerala.

For further information, please contact:
Mr. Ajay Kumar
Secretary to the Government of Kerala Industries Department/
Executive Director, Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion
Sri Ganesh', T.C. IX/2197
Kurup's Lane, Sasthamangalam
Trivandrum - 695010, Kerala, India
Tel: 91-471- 333028
Fax: 91-471- 311883
Email: kumarajay1111@yahoo.com
 =20