Raghavendra Bhat wrote:
I think we should not go by what people say about word sounding.
It is not merely that, but also the meaning it conveys. 'Sudandira menporul' conveys exactly the same meaning as "Freedom Software" and that is why I suggested 'kattatra menporul'- software that is free without restrictions.
I am sure you agree that Tamil is a very precise language with very deep roots. In English, when we don't want to budge from our position, we may say, "I won't budge an inch". In Tamil, we could say something like, "I won't budge an immi" where immi is a fraction precisely equal to 1/1075200. Were ancient Tamils using some kind of octal system? Consider this: kal = 1/4; araikkal=1/8; veesam=1/16; kani=1/80; mundhiri=1/320; keelarai=1/640; keelveesam= 1/5120; keelairaikal=1/2560; keelmundhiri=1/102400 etc. I am sure there ought to be a precise expression in Tamil, that already exists, and elegantly conveys the substance of free software.
Tamil writer Sujatha openly advocates free software, and uses the expression 'open source' literally in Tamil. The zha Tamil PC team working on Tamil i10n for those who want to use *only* Tamil, prefix the unique Tamil zha to OpenOffice, KDE etc and are making it freely available to the Tamil world. visit: http://www.zhakanini.org/ As long as people understand that it is free software, any reference that picks up popularity is fine. But, do we want free software to be known as 'open source' in Tamil? A more elegant expression than 'sudanthira menporul' or 'kattatra menporul' may be possible and available in Tamil for 'free software'. I am only requesting if there are better options. For all I know, computers running on free software may eventually be called as 'zha kanini' by a majority of Tamils.
Tamil is more suitable language from an AI point of view because of very strong root words, and once l18n projects mature, we may have very interesting programs in Tamil. Machine translations and machine 'understanding' of Tamil text ought to be easier than with any other language. The strength lies in the careful evolution of words from strong root words. That is why, more attention need to be paid when new concepts are taken to the Tamil world.