To this day, technology in the translation industry has been largely
dominated by a handful of proprietary applications.
Linguas OS is
a Linux
distribution created specifically for professionals in the translation
industry, including Free Open Source Software tools to perform all of
the tasks that professional translators must do every day in their
work.
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The tools Linguas OS provides include:
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Sure, there are already translators using Linux who have found
the
solutions to enable them to compete and work in the industry (the
author is one of them), but, until now, there hasn't been a
distribution specifically tailored to the translators's
needs.
Linguas OS, as such, comes pre-packaged with the translator's most
needed tools, most notably, CAT software. Said software is
maintained in the distro's packages via synaptic, so the user does not
have to seek it out and install from source, etc., thus facilitating
the translator's use of a linux operating system, enabling the user to
focus on his work, and not maintaining his software.
Additionally, Linguas OS was created, and is maintained by a successful
translator and translation agency owner who is intimately familiar with
the needs of professionals in the translation trade.
The advantages of both FOSS and gnu/linux, in general, have
been
adequately discussed elsewhere.
The advantages of FOSS and gnu/linux to professionals in the
translation industry are no different, the two most notable advantages
being the reduction of overhead for software licenses and increased
efficiency and productivity for use of a more stable and secure system.
The advantages of Linguas OS, specifically, to those working in the translation trade, are that it is a prepackaged distro with all of the tools a translator needs pre-installed and easily maintainable. Also, from a technology perspective, Linguas OS is a small, quick system, using fluxbox as it's default window manager. The .iso for the distro includes the most needed translation software applications and office applications, but comes packed with little else. The download is light, at 412 mb, and the system will run as a Live CD, enabling the user to download it quickly, fire off a CD and load it up for trial purposes. Installation to the hard drive, even along side another OS, is made simple with the drak-live installer. Once installed, the synaptic package manager puts thousands of additional applications at the user's fingertips, with only a few clicks of the mouse. Also, Linguas OS has created a community of professional translators experienced with the tools Linguas OS offers, and seasoned Linux users, to provide support for those new to these tools.
Linguas OS doesn't claim to be the flame that will cleanse the translation industry of the proprietary software disease. Essentially, Linguas OS: a) attempts to give translators a platform for experimenting with the tools that are available in FOSS for the trade, in a quick and light Live CD distribution, as well as, b) provide an easily maintained, preconfigured OS for translators that are already using, or wish to begin using Linux for their work. There are some potential drawbacks for those coming from a Windows background, which would include the vast majority of professionals working in the translation industry. In order to include the software most needed by translators, and still keep the distro on a live-cd, Linguas OS uses fluxbox as its default window manager, which is not exactly an intuitive environment for a first-time Linux user. KDE or Gnome would seem to be much more viable options for a system aimed at introducing Linux to professionals in an industry already dominated by other, proprietary operating systems. The Linguas OS community, however, is in the process of creating documentation, even for included packages that already have documentation, to make the use of the included software, wm, package management system, etc., as easy as possible for those new to Linux. This documentation is progressively becoming available on the Linguas OS wiki, and will be incuded in the next release. Additionally, of course, the user can easily add KDE, Gnome, or XFCE with only a few clicks, which is explained in the Linguas OS documentation. Also, although the industry is hungry for alternatives to the costly proprietary tools that have until now dominated it, there is resistance within the industry to change, as is the case in many other industries.
Anthony Baldwin is a professional translator, avid Linux and FOSS supporter, and CEO of Baldwin Linguas, a translations and linguistic services agency.
