[Ubuntu-PH] Re: newbie pow

[Edu Timbol, Jr.]

Eksakto!

On 10/11/05, eric pareja <xenos at upm.edu.ph> wrote:
> Noong Mar, Okt 11, 2005 ng 08:41:26AM +0800, sinabi ni Dean Michael Berris:
> > On Tue, 2005-10-11 at 08:28 +0800, jan gestre wrote:
> >
> > > Depende yan Charles, meron contract in Filipino, meron din software in
> > > Filipino. I tried the Filipino language version ng ubuntu, medyo
> > > nakakalito kasi nde tayo sanay, pero sanayan lang yan dba, nde naman
> > > tayo old dogs that can't learn new tricks, right?
> >
> > I'm a new dog who chooses the tricks I wanna learn. And using software
> > in Filipino just requires Too Much Work for me to even consider using
> > it. ;)
>
> The translation efforts aren't aimed at people like us who are
> already comfortable working with computers in English. All translation
> efforts, whether Filipino or French or Vietnamese, are aimed at
> lowering the barriers to accessibility for non-English users. This
> includes users who aren't as comfortable in English as we are. The
> whole thrust of translation efforts is to make the technology
> accessible to all, regardless of language.
>
> It is easy for -us- to say that it is easier to work in English. We
> have that luxury and advantage because we already understand English,
> or think that we do. To those of us who comprehend English, all the
> translation efforts are unnecessary because most of the software that
> we might be interested in is already in English. But what about the
> software that from the onset is not written in English? What do we do
> about those? There are many programs that are written in French or
> German or Japanese, do we then have to learn French or German or
> Japanese to be able to use them?
>
> The point of translating anything is to make the source
> document/program accessible to a wider audience. If you already are in
> the audience as an English speaker/reader, you may not need the
> translations, but that doesn't mean other people don't.
>
> Let me put it another way that might make more sense (or not).
>
> Before the BSA started cracking down on unlicensed software use, was
> there any interest in Free/Open Source software? Was there any real
> need for F/OSS when all the commercial programs you needed were
> readily available for a few pesos at your friendly software copier?
> What would have happened to F/OSS if no one thought that we should
> write F/OSS, since the commercial software companies already write the
> stuff we "need"?
>
> For a long time, F/OSS advocates like me had an audience majority of
> whom didn't see the need for F/OSS because they could have commercial
> stuff for peanuts and get away with it. They saw no reason to install
> F/OSS except for some niche applications.
>
> And then the BSA came. Now people are taking a serious look at F/OSS
> because of costs. There are other reasons for using F/OSS, but all of
> these help further the reach and scope of F/OSS.
>
> --
> ___  Eric Pareja (xenos AT upm.edu.ph) | Information Management Service  [IMS]
> \e/  Network and Systems Administrator | University of the Philippines Manila
> _v_  [ http://www.upm.edu.ph/~xenos ][GPG: B82E42D9][http://tinyurl.com/68dkm]
>  "Ang hindi marunong magmahal ng sariling wika ay higit pa sa malansang isda."
>
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>


--
"Coffee is evil...a necessary evil."-

Daysleeper Ed
Registered Linux User # 398135