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I use the Debian/GNU Linux system on my machine. My computer is setup to read and write Japanese. This requires little work if the steps are listed out. Debian has excellent Japanese support due to the work done by people in the Debian/JP project. All the tools needed for setting up the Japanese environment can be got using apt-get. Further, editors, viewers, and other software is also apt-get'able.
When I had setup my machine for Japanese, I could not find good documentation in English. Here, I have included some resources for having Japanese language environment on your machine. Currently, I am in the process of re-writing this. I plan on including a full Japanese-Debian HOWTO (in English, and perhaps Japanese). If you can mail me links which have good English language documentation for this, I would appreciate it very much.
Computers were developed in English language speaking countries. The language that most computers speak most effortlessly is English. However, English is not the only language in the world, and there have been efforts to localize computer software to suit different languages. In order to run any localized software, the operating system (os) must have support for the language. Sometimes it is enough to have the fonts, to view text written in a different language. This is how Netscape Navigator 4.77 can show Japanese text even if you don't have the full Japanese language environment installed. You just install Navigator, which puts its own fonts. However, the downside is that every application resorts to this trickery by itself. A much better solution is for the OS to provide these fonts, and then just make the applications aware of the fonts existence.
With a Japanese language environment, you get the ability to read and write Japanese text on your computer. Additionally, you might want to install dictionaries, or language learning software (if you are a beginner). You can setup your browser, and your e-mail client to recognize Japanese.
Since the market for localized OS's is huge, many commercial OS vendors provide language support. Since there are smart people all over the world, the Free Software community also has excellent local language support. I use Debian Linux, and it has really neat Japanese support. My computer was originally installed with Windows 95, which had Japanese support. Here, I explain how to setup the Japanese Language environment on Debian Linux.
Installing Japanese support so you can read web pages is simple. Get Netscape Navigator 4.77 (or higher versions), and when viewing a Japanese page, just adjust the page encoding in the menu to "Japanese, auto detect". That is it! Nothing more to do!
The line given below is written in Japanese. この 和文 は 日本語 です。
Ok, so you are all excited about having Japanese support. I must tell you again, that this page deals with setting up Japanese Language Environment (henceforth JLE) on Debian Linux. If you have another Operating System, kindly look elsewhere.
Well, you don't need any special hardware! Before I setup my machine, I was of the opinion that a Japanese keyboard is required. However, this is not true. You can setup the JLE both in the console, and in X! So if you plan on doing Japanese on the console, you might want to have a good VGA card. The package kon (which I ask you to install) wants a normal console. If you have a frame-buffer console, then you should install the package 'jfbterm'.
Nothing! I do not use any proprietary software, though many are available.
Put up Debian Linux on your machine. Verify that the machine boots up fine, and gets into Linux. Verify that you can store files, that you have root access when required. If you want Japanese support in X, verify that X is working. Verify that you can dial out to the Internet with your Linux machine, and can access the web, or that you have Debian/JP CDs (this is where the packages come from).
Debian packages can be downloaded from the Internet, or can be copied from CD-ROM, etc. I assume you have a good connection to the Internet, good enough to download some megabytes once in a while. Run the apt-setup program and configure it to use 'testing' sources. You might want to use the Internet for downloading packages, though it could be CD-ROM, etc.
apt-get the following packages:
The command is "apt-get install Your machine should be able to fetch all the packages, and install them. Dependencies will be resolved automatically, so you don't have to worry about the order in which these packages are installed. Note down any errors that you get. Be sure to write down everything that the error says. Pass these on to local help on Debian, or mail me about these.
Ok, so now you need to login as yourself. Run the command "kon". This gets you into the Kanji ON console program, where you can read Japanese kana. Run the command "user-ja-conf". It will ask you lots of questions in Japanese! Now if you are like me, and cannot understand all the words, you might just want to hit enter repeatedly, the defaults work!! The program finds out what you have installed, and gives very sensible defaults. He noticed that I did not have WKK, and then asked me if I want support for Wkk. And the default value was No. Quite nice... So this program configures the environment only for your login. Other users will have to run this independently. As a result of running this program, relevant lines have been added to your dot configuration files, like the .bashrc and .bash_profile so that there is support for Japanese for you! Neat, isn't it??
To verify that you have support for Japanese, download this simple small file, and either cat it in kterm, or on the console, after starting kon. You need to start kon manually each time you login. Or you
might want to put it in .bash_profile yourself.
Do feel free to write to me if you have any trouble. I will put down instructions for getting dictionaries, and interesting Japanese language software soon!
You can reach me at "aragorn at infofin dot com".
This page was last modified on 2001年 11月 18日 日曜日 21:59:04 IST
Running it!