Input Text in Hindi 

In our previous issues we have discussed how you can read in regional languages in Linux. This time we will discuss how you can use Hindi to input text in your Linux box. Don’t think that we will just use Hindi in text editors and word processors; we will use Hindi everywhere in the Gnome desktop–from naming files and folders to chatting.

To do this we will use the key map of IndLinux. The reason why we are using IndLinux and not any other software such as IndiX (for more on IndiX, read Mera Wala Linux, page 107, PCQuest October 2002) is that at this point of time other Linux localization projects are almost dead or are in hibernation. IndLinux is the only one that has been able to port almost 70% of Gnome in Hindi. We tested this software with PCQLinux 8.0 full installed and gaim-0.7 (for chatting). 

First, download IndLinux-Hindi-0.37.tar.gz (the latest version of IndLinux) from

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/indlinux/IndLinux-Hindi-0.37.tar.gz?download. This is just a 1.5 MB download that will take you about 10 mins to download over a dial-up network. If you are not able to download it for any reason, wait till next month, when you’ll find it on the PCQuest DVD. Be careful not to download the .iso file of indlinux, which is also available at the site.

After the download, run the following commands to install the software. 

#tar --zxvf IndLinux-Hindi-0.37.tar.gz



#cd IndLinux-Hindi-0.37


#./install.sh

Now you have to set the LANG variable to hi_IN. To do so first run the command

#export LANG=hi_IN

Then start your Gnome by running the startx command.

Now you will see most of the desktop in Hindi. This is the time to set your machine to write in Hindi. But, you’ll face a problem–all the commands in Linux are in English and when you set your keymap to Hindi, you will not be able to run any command in the terminal, as the machine will only write in Hindi. You will also not be able to change your keymap back to English as that also requires a command to be entered in the terminal. To solve this problem, first run the commands in the following sequence. 

#setxkbmap us



#setxkbmap dev

Don’t close the terminal where you typed the commands, so that in the case of a problem you can just scroll to the previous command ‘setxkbmap us’ by just hitting the upper arrow key. 

Now you are ready to write in Hindi. Try to rename a file by right-clicking on it and giving it a new name in Hindi. If that doesn’t interest you enough, then open your gaim messenger and login to your any account and start chatting in Hindi. 

You can also type full text documents in any text editor such as gedit and save the files in Hindi.

Anindya Roy