Chinese IME and multilingual work environment

[phthoi]

I am currently considering moving from Win2000 to Linux, however, there is the question of language support. I use Win2K because it offers me a fairly seamless multi-lingual work environment, I can switch between English/Norwegian/Chinese IME and still be working in a English/Norwegian menu environment. That the menu language is stable is not really of any concern, however, the ability to switch between different languages when editing/writing/reading documents and e-mail is most important to my work. I'm not overly partial to Win2000 or the other MS platforms, however, they do provide me with the tools that I need and THAT, I'm afraid, is what will guide my choice.

I did read a post on "How I did it!" concerning the installation of Japanese on a Linux system. A fairly complicated procedure I must admit and I recognize that there is a certain need for studies to make Linux work - a task I'm willing to undergo to be able to depart from Win2K.

The question to be asked is; Is it possible to make a multi-language installation of Linux that will give me the same flexibility as I presently have?

I'm sure there are more questions to be asked in this regard, however, for now this is what I need to know.

Thanks,
phthoi

[mdwatts]

Sorry as I don't know myself how well Linux support multi-languages.

You could try looking around

http://old.lwn.net/Distributions/

and

http://www.distrowatch.com

and

searching www.google.com/linux for i.e. multi-language support

Redhat, Mandrake and others may have something on their websites about the subject.

[phthoi]

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll certainly have a look at the sites you recommed.

phthoi

[banzaikai]

Well...

As the author of the Japanese/Redhat post, and installer of just about every IME out there, here's my "Go-En":

I really, really, really, really hate to admit it, but MS has some killer programmers doing their IME. About the only guys at MS earning the money they make, IMHO. By putting the ability to switch languages "on the fly" like they do makes things harder for everyone else. After all, they can always claim an "Idea Patent" against whoever comes up with something similar. The only drawback I've found is that I could only use the "character" IMEs (Asiatic) with IE and Outlook, whereas Linux can use them across the board (block devices are great, aren't they?).

On the Linux side of things, they need to overcome a couple of things. First, the ability to use any IME while in the native enviornment (i.e., using using Chinese while living in Timbuktu). The way the system is used now is rather inconvenient, since you have to logout/login to change locales/languages. The second is to make (as you've pointed out earlier) IMEs easier to install. If there was just one package that had everything needed in one rpm or apt-get, it'd be heaven.

In either case, I'd also warn you to make sure you get a laser printer with lots of memory if you plan on printing anything out, as the printer (in both cases) will need room for downloading of fonts in order to print what you type. I found this out first hand that the MS Japanese IME won't print squat unless you have a Kanji/Kana font in the printer (all you get are a series of dots/boxes).

All in all, I'd still pick Linux over MS, since the language switch isn't that big a deal to me, being that if I can use an IME to type the foreign characters, then I should be able to read the fscking menus, too. However, if you're getting an entire network to use the IMEs, then go for MS, since things will go a lot smoother (virii, worms, and patches notwithstanding).

Hope this helps...

banzai "offensive in ANY language" kai

[phthoi]

Hello banzaikai,

It is then as I feared, I am stuck with MS for a while longer then. The need for other systems to read my files as well as my ability to read other people's files is crucial. Dang!

I must admit that despite the virus/patch/hacks/doomsday that comes with the territory when remaining a runner of Win2K, there is a certain lure in the simplicity of the way MS has managed its linguistic challenges when it comes to reading and writing multiple languages - of which I actually have no problem using in any environment that supports unicode (including IE, Mozilla, MS Office2K), which unfortunately excludes Eudora mail - a program basically immune to many of the self-proliferating viruses/worms around.

I guess another reason for my reluctance to throw myself at the mercy of the benevolent Linux is that I really am jumping in at the deep end when it comes to actually doing anythin more than superficial maintenance of a computer. It would be fun though, getting it to work...the day I get a new computer and I can fart about on this one - and have some extra time on my hands :D - I'll most certainly take a crack at the Linux-in-Chinese-Norwegian-English-routine, seriously.

Thanks for all the good advice!
phthoi in Beijing

[banzaikai]

Win some, lose some, I guess...

Why stop at only three languages? Last time I checked, I had about 30 installed (hey, ya never know...). The best thing about Linux is that even when you install the required servers (canna, hangul, etc.) it only runs when you give it the "magic keystroke", and remains idle in the background. I mean really idle. The only thing running is the routine that looks for the keystroke to wake it up. Windows, on the other hand, still uses resources (not many, but some).

banzai "bon chance" kai