Gudmund Areskoug wrote:
Hi Jethro,
a while ago someone on a professional translators general help list asked if someone had experiences from (truly) working in Linux.
Since I do at least part of my job in SuSE + KDE2, I was able to give a few hints, but I couldn't rightfully claim to know all the necessary whereabouts in Linux for my line of trade.
My major problems (apart from clients requesting 110% file compatibility...) for doing the switch you just did, are accounting+taxes software and DejaVu, the probably best translation tool in the industry. Only run on Win$, no plans to change that :(.
To cut it short: do I have your permission to quote/post your summary on that list?
Occasionally, I get across language setting + font solutions. I too want to be able to mix languages with different characters and conventions (russian + japanese), sometimes (only) within the same doc or app. I'll keep you in mind when I see Chinese. A good starting point is to get the Chinese packages for kde (BIG5/traditional?).
BR, Gudmund
Dear Gudmund, Your quite right that for bigger businesses with more complicated software requirements that it is still very difficult to switch to Linux on the desktop. The 2 major impediments are as you mentioned file formats and specialist software. I think the DOJ case missed the point completely. If only they had insisted on MS opening their major file formats and left everything else alone Linux (and other OSes) would have a fair chance to compete. Without this it is going to be very difficult for people to switch. Accounting software is always a tricky topic. Often it's not just a case of windows vs other platforms but of one accounting package versus another. Accounting software is very important for a business and if you have a solution that works why switch to another package. I once found a website which was something like www.whataccountingsofware.com (not the actual URL - I can't find the site again) but it listed 100's of professional accounting software packages that are compatible with Linux. ***Please feel free to quote me if you want to,*** I'm based in China so I mainly use simplified Chinese (GB). If you were to come across any useful information I would be very greatful if you passed it on. Kind Regards, Jethro