A little help in using Amharic

[JOB]

Hi guys,

Recently, I tried to check out Amharic in Ubuntu, however I could only
type the ግዕዝ letters (meaning I can type for eg. ሀ, but not ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ
etc). Has any one of you came across this glitch? After waiting so
long to get a computer and having finally installed Ubuntu on it, not
being able to use Amharic is just out of the question for me. Any help
you can give?

[tegegne tefera]

What input method are you using? In GTK applications such as abiword and gedit if you right click there is a context menu with an option to choose Amharic+Z input method. I think that is the best input method out there. The rest of them are poorly implemented by people who have no idea what they are doing. So use that.

By the way I don't know how many of you have looked at the new mint Debian. It is a rolling distribution which means you never have to install it again. (at least theoretically) and it is a beautiful distro that keep on updating itself forever. I wiped out an old computer of a friend who has given me a hard time with his windows vista and installed Mint debian and now the only thing i can say is he is in love with his computer. He can't stop talking about it and thanking me. Which was nice at first but now it is getting wired. So try it but watch out  the owe struck grateful windows refugees. 

[eyob fitwi]

I'll try that as soon as I get home. But I would like to use the full Amharic script for general use (probably naming some icons, files, folders, etc. in Amharic, use in openoffice.org, and others). How do you use your keyboard for Amharic?

As for Mint Debian, well that would be a viable option as soon as internet access is viable for the Ethiopian :-)

[tegegne tefera]

Aah.. the insensitive me! Yes, sometimes we forget how easy we are having it out side of Ethiopia and I apologize. But I think Linux users in Ethiopia with a little help from friends around the world can do some thing about that. They do not have to wait for a gigabyte Internet access for every house to enjoy what free and open source movement has to offer. In fact if open source does not have a solution for this kind of problem I would be very disappointed. As every thing open source it only needs a bit of discipline and networking.

For example if there is a way to know the needs of users it is possible to get a copy of software that satisfies that need and put it in a copy chain. A simple example is if I am traveling to Ethiopia I take a copy of the necessary software and give it to an Internet cafe or a university. Any one who is interested copies them for a small fee and passes it to another user for free or small fee. I prefer free.

Next time I travel to Ethiopia I am planning to install mint or Ubuntu on a couple of computers in an Internet cafe. I found out when you tell people they are going to get it for free they get suspicious and chase you out. But this time I am going to tell them that i will sell it to them if they are interested after trying out on one computer. When they get hooked up I will refuse to take their money and see the horror on their face... yes i am gona do that..hehe!!!!

Imagine if this Internet cafes make a kind of chain helping each other passing out copies instead of using a pirated and virus ridden windows xp or 95.

For your keyboard. i almost forgot it. You need scim or ibus. I think Ubuntu has standardized ibus.I hope it is on the cdrom if not you need to use synaptic to install it either offline or online.

[eyob fitwi]

Yep that would be good, except that people could be so resistant here. And its very difficult to convince them to install on a computer. A PC still tends to be to much of a 'big deal' to mess with. Microsoft monopoly is pretty much entrenched here as well (ironically, they don't get any money out of it though) and people are afraid to mess around with something as 'difficult' as software OS. Perhaps the best way is to organize a workshop or event of some sort (with good presentation preparations) and get a little media coverage. Hey, did you know that Canonical ships a free CD for you if you request it at shipit.ubuntu.com? Its a great way for promoting Ubuntu which I think we in poor countries can make use of. Organizing a few 'open-source' shops also looks like a good idea. Basically, I think promotion and exposure to the public will help. We could even use this group site to meet and give each other copies of CDs to whoever needs it, if we are at similar locations.

But as you said people do tend to get surprised at some of its advantanges, especially when you say 'no viruses'.

As for offline access, there is a project aimed at this (Check out keryxproject.org). Right now the little software is a little complicated to use (I don't understand the full use of it myself) but it looks promising. I wish I knew coding so that I could help. Maybe some of you guys who know how to code could lend a hand.

As for the keyboard, I checked out EZ+ in gedit and it is good; a little irritating that it doesn't work for the whole system though. I'll try you're suggestions.

[tegegne tefera]

The sky is the limit I would say If we put our minds to it. I still have the cd of the first ubuntu I got through shipit Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake). 

Yes this group can help by providing info on how one can get a copy of a software.  I am sure if there is enough interest organizations like british council would not mind to keep a mirror site for all distros which can be copied from their computers and distributed. 

It is all about creating a network of people who have the facility to provide a copy of a cd. And I still think internet cafes and universities are the most natural places to have this kind of nodes. Of course people can create a kind of clubs around sharing software and other important stuff.  For example I have 100s of thousands of books in pdf format that could be copied by any one with a cd or a flashdisk and use it at home or on friends computer or a usually idle internet cafe. People can even buy one computer for 4 or 5 and share it on time basis a kind of የኮምፑተር አቁብ ወይም አድር.

[eyob fitwi]

Hey, I'm back. Ubuntu has iBus, but it doesn't have any Amharic input method in it. I searched the net and found these attached ones. I don't know what to do with them. Any advice?

[tegegne tefera]

Sorry for the delay

Ubuntu used to install the m17 package by default but It seems in 10 10 it doesn't . you have to install the ibus-m17 package from synaptic or download it. in there you have amharic.

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 11:48, eyob fitwi <eyob....@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey, I'm back. Ubuntu has iBus, but it doesn't have any Amharic input method in it. I searched the net and found these attached ones. I don't know what to do with them. Any advice?

On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 12:42 PM, tegegne tefera <tefera....@gmail.com> wrote:

The sky is the limit I would say If we put our minds to it. I still have the cd of the first ubuntu I got through shipit Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake). 

Yes this group can help by providing info on how one can get a copy of a software.  I am sure if there isut  enough interest organizations like british council would not mind to keep a mirror site for all distros which can be copied from their computers and distributed. 

[dawit habtamu]

Hello there my beloved Ubuntu users!!!!

I know, it's been a long time, hasn't it?! I just want to say that the
conversation with Eyob and Tegegn was very interesting and
enlightening ... I have one exciting news to add: There's a radio show
we're doing in Addis on Afro FM 105.3 talking about LINUX!!!!

I get invited every two weeks and we educate the public about the power
of Open Source and related stuff! It's really entertaining and educating
with music in the middle.

Those of you outside, you can listen in online on http://afro105fm.com/

I'll let you know in advance when it is going to be on!

Cheers to you all!!!

Dawit

[eyob fitwi]

@dawit
That's really great. What time is it?

@tegegn
you mean I can't install the files I've downloaded?

[tegegne tefera]

Good job dawit. I am looking forward to listning to it.

Eyob

What you downloaded is a keyman input drivers for ibus. But you do not need that since m17n includes amharic. Also you get a binery for your particular distro.

Google ibus-m17n for which ever ubuntu version you are using. 10.04 or 10.10...etc.

Then you will hopfully get a .deb file and you can install that.

[dawit habtamu]

Guys!

I just finished watching The Lord of The Rings and I can relate our
group to that of the "Fellowship of the ring" in the movie! :D

Anyway ...

@ Eyob: The time of the radio show is from 07H00-10H00 every time it is
on (sometimes we do it two weeks in a row and sometimes every other
week)

@ Tegegn: Glad you're interested! Hey, we're gonna Linuxize Ethiopia and
THAT'S IT!

Cheers people!

Dawit

[tegegne tefera]

"LINUXIZE" :-) ha ha. I never heard that one before. It is good one. That is what we re going to do then!!!!

Just to remind. Open source, free software, Linux...etc is about helping one self and each other. As you all probably find out it is not nearly enough to read about it. It is not even enough to go to a course. Radio programs, television, news letters help greatly to pass the word. But by them selves they can not create a user base. 

What is going to create a user base is a direct access to other users through e-mail, chat or other social networking mediums. It is about holding a hand and guiding through what it seems a complicated maze but once the "eureka" moment passed it is so simple you would think the guy who created it is stupid and you want to create your own and better one. That is why free software is forked endlessly and making it endlessly better everyday.

So I hope dawit you will guide your listeners to places where they can get direct help, like linux IRCs forums..etc where they can ask questions that are particular to them so as to nudge them from where they are stuck. Every body gets from time to time stuck and not on the same place. If people can not get help they will just abandon it. And that is not good. If many people abandon it for lack of a little help then the notion that "it is difficult" grows and new people will not try. So keep in mind when you do your show. 

cheers

[dawit habtamu]

Yes, it's been confirmed!

THE NEXT SHOW IS TOMORROW (Feb 05, 2011; 07H00 - 10H00 GMT+3)

come on and listen on ... our facebook page is www.facebook.com/rock101jp

Do go to our page and post your comments, links, etc ... let's get this thing going!!!

I can't, obviously, do this alone! I NEED YOU GUYS!!! Let's let Ethiopia know, that Ethiopians use Linux too!!!!

I'm excited ... and have some ideas for tomorrow's show ... talking about ideas, if you want me to talk about anything tomorrow, get it to me in the next few hours and I WILL!!!

And when you send your messages on facebook or email us, let us know where you're listening from ... it'll be awesome to know!

Cheers my brethren ... I have a show to get ready for and Jason (the show's host) wouldn't want me to show up unprepared! :D

I love this group, man!

Dawit

[tegegne tefera]

አስቲ ስለ አስሊ አቁብ ተናገር:: በአገራችን ስንት ሰው ነው አያንዳንዱ አስሊ (computer) ገዝቶ የሚችል:: በዛሬው ጊዜ ደግሞ ይህ ከሌለ የዓለም መጨረሻ ባይሆንም በውቀትም በስራም ከሌላው አኩል ለመሆን አጅጉን  አስቸጋሪ ይሆናል:: ሌሎች ፈጥነው ሲሄዱ አኛ ስንንቀረፈፍ በመሀከላችን ያለው ርቀት አየሰፋ አየሰፋ በህዋላ ከሁዋላችን ደረበው ጉድ ያረጉናል:: ማንም ሰው አስሊን ሙሉቀን አይጠቀምም:: ፬ ወይም ፭ ሆኖ ሰው አንድ ቢገዛ በጊዜ አያሰሉ መጠቀም ይቻላል:: የዚህ አይነት አሰራር ጥቅሙ ጊዜን ለመሻማት ሲባል ትጋት ይኖራል:: አስቲ ስለዚህ አውራ:: አንድ አሮጌ አስሊ ገዝተው ሥሥነገር (software) ከፈለጉ ለዚህ ግሩፕ መልአክት ይላክና ይጠይቅ:: በአካል ለመርዳት ፈቃደኛ የሆነ ሰው ካለ በዚሁ ግሩፕ አማካኝነት ተገናኝተው ሊረዳ ይችላል ማለት ነው:: አኔ አዲስ አበባ ስመጣ ቢያንስ የተወሰነ ጊዜዬን ይህንኑ ርዳታ ለመስጠት አስቤያለሁ:: አንተ ደግሞ ረጅና ተረጂ የሚገናኙበትን መልክት ብታስተላልፍ አሪፍ ነገር ይመስለኛል::  

[eyob fitwi]

Hi guys.

Just thought that I should let you know that I happened to solve the Amharic input problem. I just installed SCIM, through it I installed an amharic keyboard I downloaded from the net, and voila! Its a little buggy, but hey, it gets the job done.