Act 1: Open kimonos

On this very subject, Don and Hans in "Act Loco" have taken off their gloves and tell it like it is: they provide a sobering analysis of what the problems are in our industry and offer some very sound advice on how to grab the opportunity. Is it optimistic?

While I did have some reservations about Don's reference to pastrami (I would have used smoked meat, but that's localization for you!), the article sums up well the openness issue by stating: "We can't even all agree on what the terms globalization, internationalization, and localization mean." Indeed.

As a software architect, I discovered many years ago the very real and practical value of consistent terminology: it embodies clear concepts. We need specific words for specific ideas. Clear, well-defined concepts and terms provide a solid foundation on which one can build. Strange is it not? A programmer suggesting that glossaries are important...

Act 2: Open CAT

STAR opens up the CAT tool market by offering Satellite PE free-of-charge. Although Satellite was not conceived as a 'stand-alone' product (it can only be used in conjunction with projects prepared with Transit Professional Version), it will offer many freelancers the chance of experimenting with TM technology for free, in a package that is easy to install and learn. Increasing the awareness and adoption of TM technology in the industry is to everyone's benefit. After all, is not TM the translator's best defense against MT?

Act 3: Open Source

In truly open source fashion, LionBridge is also opening up TM technology by releasing the source code of their ForeignDesk TM. This is a very interesting move; it will also stimulate TM awareness by making more tools, more features at more price points available on the market.

Some may worry about the reliability of open source products as I did until I spent one year working on a project with Perl and Apache (the Web's most widely used server is open source). During that year I found only one innocuous bug in Perl, none in Apache. During the same time, I found more bugs and more serious bugs in paid-for shrink-wrap software.

The fact is that, when a certain critical mass of developers is reached (and that is the real question here), open source generates more reliable software that has been tested by more people, has undergone more design review and is produced with more passion (where "good enough" is a dirty word).

Pierre Cadieux (pcadieux@i18n.ca) is president of i18N Inc. (www.i18n.ca), a firm specializing in internationalization training and consulting for embedded systems, shrink-wrap software and Web sites. Pierre is the Technology Editor of the LISA Newsletter. Formerly VP Technology at Alis, he pioneered the transparent handling of Arabic and Hebrew languages and created the core bidirectional technology licensed by Microsoft. As Director of Localization Technology at Bowne Global Solutions, he published the first generic model of Web globalization technologies. Pierre also regularly presents workshops at LISA events.