Peter T. Daniels wrote:

>
> Exactly. It's a big job;

Big is relative - Windows and Office have been localized many many
times. MS has a pretty good idea of what effort is needed on both their
end, and on the translators end. There shouldn't be any real surprises.

It is a big task by the standards of most localization jobs, but I am
sure MS can handle it with finesse. The scale and complexity is far from
unheard of.

> how big is the customer base?

Roughly as stated in the article. No one thinks MS is going to ever make
money directly from selling these products. Heck, they will probably end
up giving them away to the locals anyway. I think there is a similar
effort underway in Iceland, and probably many more underway or in the
works around the world. Maybe Peter C. can comment.

Overall, this is a PR effort, and an ongoing one. Also, it is an outpost
in the Linux battle, believe it or not. Lots of free software available
in this space already available for localization today. I don't know if
this language would be supported by Linux, but no matter. The PR value
is that at least some FUD is cast in the eyes of other big customers and
markets ready to bail from Windows for lack of support of native locale
issues - Brazil, China, etc.

One thing to note is that this effort is going to likely tie up almost
every available translator for a long time - maybe least two long
release cycles. That means a Linux version in that language will
probably not happen in the same timeframe. And once windows and Office
is in place, if the translators want to continue, they will almost
certainly be hooked on MS products and processes.

If I were MS, I would recommend this program take place just to find out
if that is what happens at the end. The cost in effort and money is
probably not even a rounding error in MS's budget but the value of the
info acquired would be very high.

> How many
> Inuktitut-speakers are literate in Syllabics, and how many of that set
> use Windows, and how many of that set want to use Syllabics rather than
> romanization?

A lot less now then in a few years :)

Seriously, the first release is, as they have said of the new pope,
"transitional". From the first Syllabics release to the second release,
roughly 15% of the original content will change based on history.
Converting the 85% that is in Syllabics to the native version at that
time is a manageable task. Then the new 15% can be done in native code,
and then you are good to go. The first release won't be for everyone, it
is the second one that will be the prize for the locals.

What happens to their society after that will be interesting to see.

Best,

Barry