[tdf-announce] LibreOffice Localization Program in Saudi Arabia announced to enhance Arabic language related features

The Document Foundation and the National Program for Free and Open
Source Software Technologies (Motah) at King Abdulaziz City for Science
and Technology (KACST) in Saudi Arabia work at the further enhancement
of LibreOffice

Berlin, September 13, 2012 - The Document Foundation and the National
Program for Free and Open Source Software Technologies (Motah:
http://www.motah.org.sa) at King Abdulaziz City for Science and
Technology (KACST) in Saudi Arabia announce a Localization Program to
enhance the Arabic language support in LibreOffice and solve related
bugs, and contribute to the improvement and development of LibreOffice.

Motah LibreOffice Project (http://motah.org.sa/en/?q=node/94) is one of
the activities of Motah program at KACST, where several software
products in various fields are studied to explore the extent of Arabic
support and their suitability to the needs of Arab users. Thereafter,
Motah team will work at improving the selected software products to meet
those needs and requirements. LibreOffice was selected to be the first
localization project because of its importance as an office suite whose
functions are needed by all computer users.

The main objectives of the project are the following:

1. Study LibreOffice and identify the bugs related to Arabic language,
and validate that the software correctly supports languages written from
right to left in all its functions and operations.

2. Work to solve these bugs and improve the LibreOffice support to
languages written from right to left. The bugs are either discovered by
Motah team members or posted in the LibreOffice Bugzilla website.

3. Work on simplifying and enhancing LibreOffice graphical user
interface, to enhance the usability of the software.

4. Work on improving the Arabic Documentation as well as improving the
Arabization of the graphical user interface, by reviewing and enhancing
the existing translation.

"As the first leading project in the Arabic region to support
LibreOffice, Motah program is committed to support Arabic language and
its use in modern technologies. Through local software engineers, young
and open source enthusiasts, Motah has made its first contribution to
LibreOffice 3.6.1 solving several bugs related to Arabic language and
RTL format support. Motah will continue solving related bugs as well as
improving the Arabic help and documentation as part of its contribution
to the Arabic speaking ICT community. It is fascinating to see The
Document Foundation combining people from different cultures, languages
and geographical locations around the development of LibreOffice, the
best free office suite ever", says Abdulrahman Alarifi, Motah Program
Director.

"Motah key contributions to LibreOffice are a demonstration of the
unique advantages of TDF as an independent body, capable of pushing
forward the free office suite and raising the bar of interoperability",
comments Florian Effenberger, Chairman of the Board of The Document
Foundation. "Only the balanced mix between organization and volunteer
activities within TDF can guarantee the global reach of LibreOffice, and
offer users a free office suite in their native language independently
from their geography or language".

Modern Standard Arabic is the official language of 26 states (Algeria,
Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Israel,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman,
Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria,
Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen), and is spoken by as many
as 440 million native speakers.

The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran
(known as Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic) and is widely taught in
schools, universities, and used to varying degrees in workplaces,
government and the media.

LibreOffice is available in their native language to over 95% of the
world's population, thanks to a global volunteer community spanning over
the five continents.

LibreOffice can be downloaded at http://www.libreoffice.org/download.

Short link to TDF blog: http://wp.me/p1byPE-jE.

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