Nov 5, 2011

Future of Linux (desktop), web app, SaaS

Trên mảng server, thành công của Linux là điều không cần chứng minh.

Tuy vậy, Linux desktop vẫn gặp nhiều khó khăn mà một trong những nguyên nhân
của nó là sự chuyển đổi từ những chương trình chạy trên Windows (.exe) không
tương thích và không được hỗ trợ, phát triển tốt trên Linux.

Cứu cánh là (công nghệ) HTML 5, web app, cũng như SaaS.

Với web apps, người dùng chỉ cần web browser là có thể xử lý được việc mình muốn.
Nghĩa là: Họ không bị phụ thuộc nhiều vào hệ điều hành (Linux, Windows).

Do đó, một khi chuyển thành công từ (Windows) native app sang web app,
có thể coi rằng chúng ta đã thành công chuyển từ Windows sang Linux.

Một số ví dụ về chuyển đổi từ (Windows) native app sang webapp

1. MS Project -> Redmine (quản lý công việc)
2. MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint -> Zoho, Google Docs
3. MS Outlook -> Zimbra

-----

Tham khảo:

As I was reading yet another article about the problems people are having with Unity, I was thinking about how we may be focused on the wrong thing when we fret about how the desktop interface works.

Shouldn't we, as a community, be focused on the application ecosystem? Or has the rise of software as a service caused the community to essentially declare this space "done"?

The article in question was Bruce Byfield's Linux Magazine blog entry that highlighted a Launchpad bug discussion about one Ubuntu developer's concern that Canonical was basically disconnected from the Ubuntu community with their constant insistence that the Unity interface not be as configurable as prior interfaces.

I'll let you read Byfield's article, since it keenly illustrates the division of thought between the old and the new Linux community. But this division, and all of the trouble it's caused, suddenly has me wondering if we're not all looking at the wrong thing.

The Unity argument intrigues me on several levels. On the most personal level, it interests me because, well, I'm not the biggest Unity fan, either. I like the interface as a concept, but like most Linux users, I miss the capability to configure the interface more to my liking.

On a broader level, the problem people have with Unity seems to be this lack of configuration, which reflects the new trend in interfaces: light, fast, pretty containers for what's really important in a mobile interface world that's increasingly dependent on SaaS--the browser.

But here's my question: we seem to be focused so much on the interface, and yet Linux is still not perceived as a strong contender in the other half of the what-makes-a-good-desktop-operating-system equation: applications. And that's being a bit generous.

On the very basic level, Linux has what it takes: strong office suites, file managers, browsers, text editors, music library systems. But anything much beyond that, and you've got to either run a virtual machine or get online.

I've been nervous about this before. Last week, as I Twittered a link to a story about Canonical's new focus on the business desktop, Twitter reader André Koot came back with an interesting reply that seemed to sum up every commercial Linux vendor's feeling about applications:

"Who needs (corporate) apps when there's saas? Biggest problem is current vendor lock-in - proprietary non-standards…"

A lot of people, including me, have seen SaaS as the savior of the Linux desktop. SaaS neatly allows Linux to skirt around the elephant in the room: Linux on the desktop hasn't been successful because of a pretty interface; it hasn't been successful because there is a perceived lack of applications. A perception, I should add, which is basically right, at least as far as the average user is concerned.

SaaS, however, changes all that. Cloud-based applications will let anyone with a browser access the same applications, no matter what operating system they are using. Clearly, this is what everyone is shooting for, not just Linux. Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 and Apple's current OS X Lion show clear signs of what's been called "appification." Canonical's Unity is just their way of approaching this paradigm. Heck, even the aforementioned LibreOffice is working on an online version.

My concern here is that in the rush to shift to SaaS, we have seemingly abandoned any pretense that the native Linux application space is worth working on. I cannot remember the last time there was a major new innovation in Linux application space. (LibreOffice doesn't count; it's a fork of a pre-existing office suite.) Before that, what was it? Chrome (another browser)? Amarok and Banshee (both great music players, with a decidedly iTunes bent)?

In all of the kerfuffle about the interface, has Linux development just up and abandoned this side of the desktop equation? If so, if Linux has really truly pinned all of its hopes to SaaS, then the desktop Linux community should admit it to themselves and freely accept the fact that SaaS is the target for which Linux is now aiming.

Is this so wrong? If you read my entry yesterday, then you will know that I am becoming increasingly nervous about this. Better, I think, to keep working on native solutions and aim Linux at a business and general consumer market that doesn't want or need every single piece of their data out in the cloud.

Don't ignore SaaS, to be sure… but don't ignore native Linux application development, either.

Read more of Brian Proffitt's Open for Discussion blog and follow the latest IT news at ITworld. Drop Brian a line or follow Brian on Twitter at @TheTechScribe. For the latest IT news, analysis and how-tos, follow ITworld on Twitter and Facebook.


Nov 4, 2011

Dùng Translation Memory để dịch với Pootle và Virtaal

Pootle: Công cụ dịch online
Virtaal: Công cụ dịch offline

Cả hai đều cùng tác giả/dự án và đều hỗ trợ Translation Memory

# Tất nhiên hỗ trợ tiếng Việt :)

Về các TM tiếng Việt "to" nhất
- Gnome
- Debian
- Ubuntu
- Mozilla
- OpenOffice/LibreOffice

Có thể import vào để dùng

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: F Wolff <friedel@translate.org.za>

>
> Not really; Pootle can create a terminology file which you
> can then edit. Terminology is mostly a word-by-word aide to
> have consistent terms in your texts and can be used in
> Pootle itself (as well as in many offline editors).

For reference, here is the information about this functionality in
Pootle:
http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/pootle/terminology_matching

Similar terminology matching is available in Virtaal.


> Translation Memory Database (TM) works with one or many
> words (segments) so that one can have suggestions on longer
> text strings - some translation software lets you decide how
> close matches you want as suggestions, and to construct
> rules about word order and such.

For the upcoming version of Pootle we have support for translation
memory during translation. The new version isn't quite ready for release
yet, but we have already used it successfully at some localisation
events and it looks very promising. It uses an online Translation Memory
service that we can keep up to date with the latest translations of
things like LibreOffice.

This service is already available with Virtaal 0.7. I don't think the
current TM database has the very latest LibreOffice translations, but we
can hopefully do a refresh of the data quite soon.

If people are able to help in testing or giving the last bit of
refinement for the upcoming Pootle release, that would be great to speed
up the process. A testing server for the upcoming release is available
here:

http://test.locamotion.org/

It is loaded with some old copy of the database of our main Pootle
server. All data entered there will be lost at some stage, but feel free
to play around. You can see a translation memory result here, for
example:

http://test.locamotion.org/fr/virtaal/fr.po/translate/#unit=187419

Keep well
Friedel

--
Recently on my blog:
http://translate.org.za/blogs/friedel/en/content/firefox-maybe-now-most-popular-africa


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Best Regards,
Nguyen Hung Vu [aka: NVH] ( in Vietnamese: Nguyễn Vũ Hưng )
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vuhung16plus, twitter: vuhung, MSN: vuhung16.
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Scrum is hard for Vietnamese

" Team be self-organizing and self-led":
Đây là yêu cầu khó, đòi hỏi kinh nghiệm, tuổi tác và sự chuyên nghiệp.
Ở VN build 1 team như vậy khá khó (tìm) và cũng tốn tiền của tuyển
dụng, giữ chân.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_%28development%29
Core Scrum roles

The core roles in Scrum teams are those committed to the project in
the Scrum process—they are the ones producing the product (objective
of the project).

Product Owner
The Product Owner represents the voice of the customer and is
accountable for ensuring that the Team delivers value to the business.
The Product Owner writes customer-centric items (typically user
stories), prioritizes them, and adds them to the product backlog.
Scrum teams should have one Product Owner, and while they may also be
a member of the Development Team, it is recommended that this role not
be combined with that of ScrumMaster.[11]

Team
The Team is responsible for delivering the product. A Team is
typically made up of 5–9 people with cross-functional skills who do
the actual work (analyse, design, develop, test, technical
communication, document, etc.). It is recommended that the Team be
self-organizing and self-led, but often work with some form of project
or team management.

ScrumMaster
Scrum is facilitated by a ScrumMaster, also written as Scrum
Master, who is accountable for removing impediments to the ability of
the team to deliver the sprint goal/deliverables. The ScrumMaster is
not the team leader but acts as a buffer between the team and any
distracting influences. The ScrumMaster ensures that the Scrum process
is used as intended. The ScrumMaster is the enforcer of rules. A key
part of the ScrumMaster's role is to protect the team and keep them
focused on the tasks at hand. The role has also been referred to as
servant-leader to reinforce these dual perspectives.

Fwd: [libreoffice-l10n] LibreOffice 3.3 End Of Life and will be removed from Pootle

FYI

- LibO 3.3 sẽ bị dừng phát triển, tập trung vào 3.4.z và các branch 3.x (x >= 4)
- Bản dịch LibO cũng sẽ tập trung vào 3.4+
- Hiện tại đang tập trung dịch 3.4
- Và sẽ dịch 3.4+ nếu có po file trên pootle.

BR<

Vũ Hưng

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Andras Timar <timar74@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 04:58
Subject: [libreoffice-l10n] LibreOffice 3.3 End Of Life and will be
removed from Pootle
To: l10n@global.libreoffice.org


Hi,

There will not be any more releases from the LibreOffice 3.3 code
line. LibreOffice 3.3.5 was planned, but apparently due to lack of
developer's interest, only 1 bugfix went in after 3.3.4, so it does
not make sense to release it. I would like to remove the related
projects from Pootle soon. We will save some resources and new
contributors will not be confused by those old files. If anybody needs
the files, I let a few days to archive them.

Thanks,
Andras

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List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/l10n/
All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted

--
Best Regards,
Nguyen Hung Vu [aka: NVH] ( in Vietnamese: Nguyễn Vũ Hưng )
vuhung16plus{remove}@gmail.dot.com , YIM: vuhung16 , Skype:
vuhung16plus, twitter: vuhung, MSN: vuhung16.
http://www.facebook.com/nguyenvuhung
http://nguyen-vu-hung.blogspot.com/