Agored

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Agored

Open source software is gaining in popularity and we are seeing increasing adoption of Firefox , Open Office and the Linux operating system itself. But what does this have to do with Wales I hear you ask?

Two recent developments give me hope for the future of open source software adoption in Wales. The first is the release of a Welsh language edition of Open Office called Agored (Agored means open in Welsh). It is currently only available for the Windows platform but hopefully a Linux version will follow. I have included a few screenshots below so that readers can behold this marvel with their own eyes. There are Welsh language books, periodicals, tv and radio stations but until now there were few if any major software packages available. This package should prove an invaluable tool to proficient Welsh speakers and learners alike. You can download Agored from here.

Another interesting development is the recent decision by French m.p's to dump Windows for Linux. Obviously this also involves a transition to Open Office and Firefox, a move which the French Police and Ministry of Culture have already made. The French m.p's however, are going the whole hog and running open source software on the Linux OS. This move will apparently affect 1154 parliamentary workstations. More details on the proposed migration can be found here.

One cannot help but applaud this move and it is to be hoped that with the arrival of Agored the Welsh parliament will begin a similar transition to open source. The software is a perfectly adequate replacement for previous editions of Microsoft Office . Given that MS is completely revamping the interface in the forthcoming Office 2007 , retraining on Open Office might well prove easier and less costly.

For me the killer feature is the Welsh language spellchecker. The only thing worse than my spoken Welsh is my written Welsh ( indeed both are rudimentary ) and its great to have an application that saves all that valuable dictionary lookup time.

Above is a screenshot of Agored correcting my lousy Welsh spelling." Dwin dysgu cymraeg nawr...ond yn araf...maen gwaith caled" means, I hope:- I'm learning Welsh now...but slowly...it's hard work.

There is already evidence that the Welsh parliament recognises that Agored is the perfect tool to help it fulfil its bi-lingual function. Meanwhile for any Welsh American looking for a free word processor that will also assist in mastering the rudiments of the Welsh language , Agored is a must have application. The program will open in either language but you have to restart it to activate your preference. To do this navigate to:- Tools (Offer) -> Options (Dewisiadau) -> Language Settings (Gosodiadau Iaith) -> Languages (Iethoedd) and set your language preference (Welsh is Cymraeg and English is Saesneg), then press Iawn or OK. After a restart your new language preference will be displayed. The program also allows you to use an English interface and still run the Welsh language spellchecker if you wish to do so.

You will need a vocabulary of around one hundred words in order to use the Welsh interface. Given that the average vocabulary for an adult native speaker in most languages is 2000 words this takes you five percent of the way there. And if you love playing around with new software what better way to learn.

Of course Agored is based on Open Office so it is a complete office suite and it comes with spreadsheet, database and presentation components as well. All of these can be run in either Welsh or English. Here is a screenshot of Calc , the spreadsheet program:-