Preserving Language
Filed under: Dharma
“languages are the repositories of culture”
– U R Anantmurthy
In, localization as a movement in India, Rajesh Rajan at Red Hat, addresses the importance of conserving languages in the digital domain. He points out how free and open software is empowering people in India to preserve their languages in the digital landscape.
IndLinux is one of the front runners of this movement, with a powerful slogan like– “Localizing free software for a free country”–they are enabling people in all parts of India, from rural to urban areas, giving them the power of the digital medium through their own languages.
There is a dearth of information in his article, and links to various programs. It will be interesting to see what kinds of blogs and web 2.0 applications will evolve out of this, but just the preservation of the language, and through that medium the culture, is priceless!
Rajesh’s conclusion says it all:
“Where knowledge is free” was the dream of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore for his nation and now the time is moving ahead toward his dreamland.
