i4donline.net ~ October 2004 Issue: Insight: Ankur Bangla Project

The need to localise
One of the challenges facing modern societies is the prospect of ensuring equitable distribution of knowledge with its base at grassroot levels. Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) models provide an ideal base for utilising Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). As a part of such models, localisation (L10n) of the GNU/Linux Operating System provides an unique opportunity to create an Operating System (OS) that is not only culturally aware but also robust and scalable with globally accepted standards.

One such effort is ‘The Ankur Bangla Project’, (www.bengalinux.org) is a collaborative initiative aimed at bringing Bangla to the FLOSS desktop. Comprising of volunteers, developers, translators, graphic artists, linguists and technocrats from India, Bangladesh and other parts of the world, the Ankur Bangla Project aims to make Bangla Computing possible. The core objective of the Ankur Bangla Project is to make available a completely localised GNU/Linux OS. Simultaneously it provides a scalable and standardised technological infrastructure for Bangla computing.

The Ankur Bangla Live Desktop
As an initial release of the work completed so far and to provide a glimpse of the scope and possibilities of the project, the Ankur Bangla Project has released a Ankur Bangla Live Desktop. Incorporating all the work that has been done on the Gnome Desktop Environment (a popular desktop environment of the GNU/Linux OS) as well as elements that provide a functional computing environment, the Ankur Bangla Live Desktop provides a preview of the completely localised GNU/Linux OS released during February 2004 in a Live CD format. On a very minimum hardware specification (which conforms to those cur-rently available as commercial-off-the-shelf configuration), the entire localised Bangla GNU/Linux OS runs off the CD and provides for a wholesome computing experience. The Ankur Bangla Live Desktop resembles a standard MS-Win9x install with analogous components and elements. The ‘classical’ GNU/Linux desktop interface has been customised in look-and-feel to ensure that end-users familiar with Microsoft ‘Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers’ (WIMP) are not hindered.

For those who do possess the bandwidth, the ISO image of the OS (to be thereafter made into a CD by burning the image file) is available to be downloaded from the project home at sourceforge.net.

For a project that is only around 14 months old, the incremental releases of the CD has seen downloads crossing the 1450 mark. Numerous CDs have also been distributed by the volunteers on a personal level based on request.

The work of Ankur can also be seen in Fedora Core 2 and the upcoming Fedora Core 3.

Development model
The Ankur Bangla Project is based on the classical FLOSS model of software development. It is completely voluntary and a (till date) non-funded effort. The L10n project ties in well with initiatives in the domain of e-Governance, low cost computing as well as other ICT4D projects. The Ankur Group is in a collaborative discussion with various stakeholders including major vendors like RedHat, IBM etc; the Government of West Bengal; academic institutions like Jadavpur University, Indian Statistical Institute among others.

The Ankur Group also participates in the standards creation process by providing inputs to Gnome Core, Unicode Consortium, Indic Consortium, Indic L10n Working Group and FOSSI. Such involvement ensures that insights gained by the group are shared and made available for replication in other localisation projects.

The Ankur Bangla Project covers all aspects of localisation (L10n) of GNU/Linux. It not only aims to provide a complete ‘Bangla Computing experience’ but also creating a standard framework and computing infrastructure (at least at the technological level), which makes such computing scalable and economically deployable.

A transition from a paper/normative form of government towards a complete e-Presence progress through the following phases: