Typing தமிழ் (Tamil) on Ubuntu Linux

Posted: June 14, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Linux, Original Article, Tutorial | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

To type a indic language on Linux you need to do some work before you get it working and before we start I am assuming that you are using ubuntu Linux 10.04 or higher .

The first thing you need is to install ibus 

so to install ibus open terminal and type

sudo apt-get install ibus


sudo apt-get install ibus-m17n

after installing ibus and m17n go to System->Administration->Language Support in the Gnome menu

Select keyboard input system as ibus

Click on Install/Remove Languages -> Select Tamil -> Select all the Components ->Apply the changes.

Then go to System->Preferences->Keyboard Input Methods 

Goto Input Method Tab , Select an Input method and then choose Tamil -> Tamil-phonetic and click Add

Enable Show icon on System tray 

then your preferred shortcut keys .

Choose Tamil from the keyboard icon in the notification area

and now you can type தமிழ் (Tamil) !!

நண்றி வணக்கம் !

 

Post you comments and Suggestions in the section below .

I am Officially Human !!

Posted: March 13, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Linux, Original Article, Techno irrelevency ., Ubuntu | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

96 Hours :

Its been exactly been 96 hours since Ubuntu Linux 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat ) was installed in a dual boot Setup on my Laptop ,

and I am proud to say that I have booted into windows only twice in that time and that too only temporarily. I have been using a Microsoft OS as my Primary Operating System form 1998-99 , that was when I convinced my dad to bring Home his old Office Computer so I could Use it

The last time I installed Ubuntu was way back in its Gutsy Gibbon(7.10) days , back then I had Windows xp on one Hard disk and Ubuntu on another Hard disk  so each time I wanted to switch OS I had to change the Hard disks , OK Enough History  now Lets Get Down To business .

The Awesomeness that followed :

Not much has changed really ,I still use firefox and chrome for browsing , VLC for videos …. etc .

But wait the waiting time has decreased , I mean the boot time has some how magically dropped , well may be thats because I am using a newly installed OS .

Then there is the part about having a Cooler looking Desktop !!

I was surprised  when I found out that I had almost all the features of Windows 7 Aero Interface (Including transparent Window borders ) Though they  function a bit differently in Ubuntu and as usual you do need a Capable Graphics card to handle it , but if you don’t you can just as easily turn them off .

What about applications I asked myself , I knew that there were open source alternatives to many windows applications or I could count on WINE to run my apps  , Well my Knowledge turned out to be true . Even the occasional Counter Strike game that I play , works Fine on WINE .

I forgot to mention the standard procedure everyone performs immediately  after installing Windows  , Installing Drivers , then Installing an Anti-Virus Program  , well as you have probably guessed by now I did skip those parts because there weren’t needed . I did Have to Download Updates though .

The Not-So Awesomeness that Followed :

The first thing tried to do after installing Ubuntu was Play a movie  , but due to some lame ethical and copyright reasons it refused to play Mp3 , AVI (Divx , Xvid)  , MKV (H.264 , X264 ) , Mp4 , Flv … and the other commonly  used formats .

Youtube was also on the list as Flash Player was also not present Out of the Box .

But the solution was really simple , install ubuntu-restricted-extras .

The AWESOME desktop that you see above doesn’t come out of the box  , though the default desktop still looks good .

Finally :

In the past 96 hours I have not missed Windows one bit , but lets see how Ubuntu holds up in the coming months .