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Forget Word and Excel- Get Jambo OfficeAs I wrote a few months ago, one of the barriers to computer use in East Africa is the language barrier. The web and software are predominantly in English. There are very few computer based resources available to Tanzanians who do not speak English. All this is about to change with the release last week of Jambo Office B the first major software product entirely in Swahili. Jambo Office is a translated version of the Open Office project. It is a suitable replacement for the Microsoft Office package offering a word processor, a spreadsheet programme very similar to Excel, and a presentation programme like PowerPoint. Everything in the programme has been translated into Swahili making it much easier to use for non-native English speakers. The translation was carried out by the Open Swahili Localization Project, also known as Kilinux. Based in the University of Dar es Salaam, the project aims to translate open source software such as Linux into Swahili, as well as promote the use of open source software amongst Swahili speakers. Jambo Office is their first major release, following on from a Swahili IT Glossary translating over 700 technical terms from English to Swahili. Open source software is software that has been written in such a way that any user of the software can access the code that makes it work, and even make changes to that code. It is this that made the translation possible. "Today, we clearly show that with free and open source software we can do in four months what proprietary software has never done for the Swahili speakers." B said technical coordinator Alberto Escudero-Pascual. Open source software is ideally suited to countries such as Tanzania. It is often free of charge, making it a clear choice over expensive or pirated commercial software. Pirated versions of Windows cannot be updated, making their users more vulnerable to viruses and bugs, while a more secure full price version of Windows is well beyond the reach of most Tanzanians, even those who can afford a computer. In addition, open source operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD run much faster on older computers. Jambo Office can presently only be used on computers running Linux. A version for Windows is scheduled for release in February. I expect to see this release become a popular inclusion in Tanzania=s Internet Cafes and IT schools who may be able to attract new customers. Learning how to use the Jambo Office pack will be much easier for Swahili speakers than with Microsoft Office. On future projects Dr. Hashim Twaakyondo, overall project coordinator commented, "Our aim is to localize all Linux components into Swahili. We will all play our part collectively." If Kilinux achieve that aim it will surely result in greater IT knowledge in Tanzania, which is likely to bring further benefits. We may in future see open source projects designed and created by Tanzanians rather than imported from elsewhere. That will really be something! If you are about to buy a new computer, I urge you to request it is installed with Linux and Jambo Office. For existing Linux users it can be downloaded from a number of sites in Tanzania and abroad B see www.o.ne.tz for further details. For more information (in English) about Open Office see www.openoffice.org . Kilinux=s website is at www.kilinux.org . Watch this space for the Windows release of Jambo Office! Competition Results The winner of the Gmail competition is Eusebio Miku. I hope you enjoy your new email account! duncandrury@yahoo.co.uk | www.dunxd.com
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