[Localization] [Fwd: Re: #7116 NORM Never A: Possible European G1G1 program needs appropriate keyboards]

[Edward Cherlin]

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 9:39 AM, LASKE, Lionel (C2S) <LLASKE at c2s.fr> wrote:
>
> Hi Edward, Hi Kim,
>
> Many thanks for your answer.
>
>>
>> setxkbmap fr
>>
> Okay, I will try it. Of course, I need to stick some little stamps on each key :-)

I don't know sources in Europe, but one of the best in the US for key
labels is Hooleon.com. It might be that we should just put a sheet in
with each XO for countries where we don't print the keytops
appropriately. Or just tell people how to order them. I don't use
stickers for non-QWERTY layouts myself. I prefer to print out layout
diagrams and learn to touch-type. Efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth got
his children typewriters with blank key caps to push them to
touch-typing, as he described in Cheaper by the Dozen. That's a
technically but not socially viable solution to incorrect key labels.
It would certainly freak out many buyers. :-(

>> Arranging for printed key tops for every standard layout in Europe
>> would be a logistical nightmare. The most recent proposal is to ship
>> US International, although the question of Greek and Cyrillic has been
>> raised.
> Another idea: put several keyboard in each G1G1 box, one for the French Keyboard, one for the Deutschland Keyboard, ...
> As NN said: "Everyone should try disassembling their XO", so if someone want a localized keyboard, it should disassembly the XO first to plug the right keyboard. (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Image:Keyboardstep4d.jpg).
> But maybe it's a costly solution, it depend of the individual cost for the keyboard piece.

The logistical problem begins with printing the keytop labels, or more
precisely with determining how many of each to print.

>> Some compromise might be in order. Spanish is certainly
>> available for manufacturing. Haiti does not use the French layout, so
>> French has not been done.

Correction: French was done for Rwanda.

> As you said, the French keyboard seems to be available (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_French_Keyboard).
> Due to the image name "800px-Rwanda-B3.png", it probably came from the Rwanda pilot ?
>
>
>>
>> Anybody who wants to volunteer for such documentation, keyboard file,
>> and scripting work should let me and Kim Quirk know.
>>
> Of course, I'm volunteer to help you. I'm already Volunteer and Language Administrator to translate English to French. Few other people at OLPC France are also contributor to the project (Samy Boutayeb, Miguel Alvarez, Xavier Carcelle, ...)
> Let me know what we could do.

Are you comfortable editing Linux system files? If so, we can create a
project to XO-ize all of the standard keyboard layout files. The work
is not arduous, but requires great precision of execution and extreme
clarity of communications. Kim, how should that project be organized?
Should we file a bug for each target keyboard? I can add a table to
the OLPC Keyboard Layouts Wiki page of what needs to be done, and who
has signed up to do what. I can also write the procedure.

I see that some XO keyboard layouts simply add an OLPC section to the
standard files. Walter, Kim, what can you tell us about XO-ization?
How standard are the changes for Latin-alphabet layouts? What do we
know about the remaining non-Latin layouts? Who else has worked on
this?

> Best regards.
>
>                        Lionel.


-- 
Edward Cherlin
End Poverty at a Profit by teaching children business
http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay