Kinyarwanda, the language spoken by most Rwandans, has no words for many basic technical and computing terms, including the very word "computer," explained Steve Murphy, organiser of the project. After debating whether to borrow English or French terms or come up with their own native word, the group settled on "mudasobwa," which roughly translates to "something or someone that does not make mistakes."
For projects such as Murphy's, challenges like that are only the beginning. Still, hundreds of developer teams have taken up the dare, working to translate open-source software such as OpenOffice and the KDE interface for Linux into languages ranging from Azerbaijani to Xhosa.
For now, such projects are largely curiosities. But analysts say they could present a significant long-term threat to Microsoft's dominance on PC desktops. Regions and language groups that don't have enough of a PC market at the moment to justify development of proprietary commercial software will naturally turn to open-source alternatives, they say. And by the time those markets become big enough to draw the attention of Microsoft and other commercial software makers, open-source could be as entrenched as Microsoft is in developed countries now.
"I think Microsoft has so far been driven by customer demand for products area-by-area," said Paul DeGroot, an analyst for research firm Directions on Microsoft. "In some cases, there isn't enough demand for products in a certain language for them to do it. Now they're shifting a bit, realising there are other issues besides, 'is it worth our while to develop a product in that language?' There's going to be a certain escalation of computing demand in poor countries, and the question becomes do you wait for those to become commercially viable markets or decide not to risk somebody else getting there first?"
For now, the numbers are on the side of open-source software. Windows XP, the current version of Microsoft's operating system, currently is available in 47 languages. Office 2003, the software giant's current version of the software, supports 34 languages.
The l10n localisation effort for OpenOffice lists completed projects covering more than 30 languages, with projects for twice as many more under way. KDE, one of the most popular desktop interfaces for the Linux operating system, is available now in more than 40 languages, with another 40-plus in the works. The open-source Mozilla Web browser is available in 59 languages, and support for dozens more is on the way.
