[Wikimediaindia-l] (OT) On the importance of Unicode

[sankarshan]

On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 9:15 AM, Nikhil Sheth <nikhil.js at gmail.com> wrote:
> Great discussion, but I wonder why I didn't see any real, easy, doable,
> inexpensive, quickfix solution put forth that every Indian on the internet
> can begin using immediately to get around the Unicode Vs custom Fonts issue.
>
> So here's some from me:
>
> 1. Quick copy-paste, working with a net connection:
> http://www.google.com/transliterate/
>
> 2. Put a bookmarklet/favorite in your browser to type in Indian language in
> any site. इधर भी : http://t13n.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/blet/docs/help.html
>
> 3. Get these languages installed in 5 mins on your machine so you can use it
> in any application from notepad to chat :
> http://www.google.com/ime/transliteration/ or sneak out the files for
> offline installation in your hometown using this neat hack:
> http://visibleblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/google-transliteration-ime-offline.html
>
> (I know our greatest angels won't care about this one because it only works
> on Evil Windows!)
>
> 4. Indian made alternative both editor and input language:
> http://www.baraha.com/

Getting things fixed at the 'plumbing' level is a hard climb but it is
worth it since it would also ensure that offline devices can utilize
what is technically correct (note, that this does not necessarily
imply that the above choices are 'incorrect'). Doing it using web
technologies is one thing, doing it for the desktop, especially the
offline-desktop is another part of the same coin.

We have come a long way since the days when one needed a recompiled
Pango (the renderer) to even decently render Indic or, when input
methods were flaky. Using standards and developing code pieces that
comply with those standards make it easier for platforms across the
spectrum to do Indic (and, other complex scripts) well.

And, looking at all this discussion I now wish that I submitted a
'state of Indic' paper at some conference happening currently ;)

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
<http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog>