Deployment Guide/Localization

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3. Localization

Almost every aspect of the one laptop per child system is amenable to localization and customization. The list below highlights features that can be customized, along with examples of such from our experiences in the field.

• Keyboards can be country or language-group specific. (In both Nigeria and Afghanistan, we designed a keyboard to work with four major language groups. Alternatively, in the Indian subcontinent, at least ten different keyboards will be required to give broad coverage.)
• Translation of the software is handled by volunteers. OLPC has set up a “Pootle Server”, a public server that enables anyone to help with translations. While we already have more than 50 translation projects underway, you are welcome to add new ones to suit the needs of your country. (Note that since the translations are done by volunteers, you may need to apply some resources to speed the process up and to ensure the accuracy of the work.)
• Content, including texts, dictionaries, documentation, etc. can all be localized. OLPC maintains a wiki (a community-editable website) with numerous materials, guides, etc. that may already be translated. Also, the various in-country deployment teams have prepared materials that they are generally willing to share. Please ask OLPC for pointers to potentially useful materials.
  • Some materials will necessarily need to be localized in country. For example, Linux currently has no spelling dictionary for Igbo. Not to be deterred, the children at the Galadima school in Abuja wrote one themselves. One sub-goal of OLPC is self-sufficiency—localization is by definition a local problem—the open nature of our system enables community involvement and ownership.
  • The voice model used by the laptop's speech synthesizer supports approximately 50 languages; developing new models is somewhat tedious, but may be worth the investment, as text-to-speech is a useful tool for both learning to read and accessibility.
• The base software system distributed on the laptop can also be customized to some extent. OLPC has developed a mechanism where by the collection of “activities” and content “bundles” loaded onto the laptop can be readily pre-configured. It is also reasonably easy to reconfigure in the field. It is the responsibility of the in-country deployment team to determine which activities beyond the core set distributed by OLPC should be included on the laptop. While OLPC does QA on the core activities, it is advised that in-country QA be done on any additional activities to be bundled with the base system. (Most activities are developed by volunteers from the open source community—the translations and the activities themselves must be tested in country as part of your evaluation as to what to activities to ship with the laptops.) Electronic books—PDF, DOC, HTML, etc.—and other media can be pre-loaded onto the laptop as a content bundle. Please consult with OLPC regarding pre-loaded content preparation.