Initiative seeks to ease Linux internationalisation

European Linux distributor SuSE today launched its effort to encourage the creation of a version of the open source OS that can be more readily localised for users in different countries. Dubbed the Linux Internationalisation Initiative (known by the tongue-twisting shorthand Li18nux -- go figure...), the plan is to develop a core set of APIs and Linux components that will allow any application that supports them to be installed and run on any localised version of the OS. Essentially, it's a system for supporting non-US keyboards and languages, independent of whatever Linux distribution the user happens to be running. Once the APIs have been formulated, they will be submitted to the Linux Standard Base for inclusion in the LSB 2.0 spec. The organisations are all well and good, and to be applauded, but why is SuSE making such a fuss about it now, two weeks or so after the LII was actually formed? Feeling short of press coverage perhaps? SuSE may be a charter member and sponsor, as it's release says, but so are almost all the other key Linux players, including Caldera, Red Hat, Mozilla and TurboLinux, and a stack of corporate IT heavyweights, such as IBM, Sun, Fujitsu, Compaq, Mitsubishi, NEC and SGI. ® More information on Li18nux (including, we hope, how to pronounce it) can be found here