4 September, 2007 - Bhutanese can soon chat, send-email, and surf the internet in Dzongkha.

The department of information and technology has come up with an operating system called the Dzongkha Debian Linux, an updated version of the Dzongka Linux developed in June 2006. The Dzongkha Debian Linux, which was launched on August 28, according to DIT officials, can be installed in any type of computers or can be used with a Live CD.

“The Dzongkha Linux was not compatible with most computers, so the operating system has been updated and made stable,” said head developer of the Dzongkha Debian Linux, Pema Geley.

With the plan to incorporate Dzongkha unicode into Microsoft Vista becoming a lost case, the Dzongkha Linux has come as a much cheaper and more advanced software for Dzongkha computing.

According to Pema Geley, the launch of the Dzongkha Linux marks Bhutan’s move towards free and open source software. “Linux is a free operating system and we customised the Debian Linux according to the need of our Dzongkha users,” he said. “Since Debian Linux is recognised worldwide, we encourage people to use it.”

The updated version will fully support Dzongkha computing on standard programs or applications like word processing, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations, web browsing and chatting. Officials said that Dzongkha Linux also has provision to use Dzongkha in graphics software like Adobe Photoshop, and multimedia applications.

Developed over a period of 13 months and at about US$ 80,000, the upgraded version has also dual booting system. “It can coexist with both Mac or Windows operating systems,” said Pema Geley. “It’s a bilingual software, meaning that it supports both English and Dzongkha language.”

According to officials, the operating system has no specific target users, but all the applications that are used in day to day computing were made compatible. “We can also develop the operating system to be compatible with existing publishing softwares for publishing companies on Dzongkha Debain Linux if people want,” said Pema Geley.

Pema Geley said that DIT reused what the Dzongkha Development Authority and the Orient Foundation developed to integrate Dzongkha Unicode system in Microsoft Vista in developing the Dzongkha Debian Linux. For instance, Dzongka Linux used keyboard specification developed by DDA for Microsoft Windows.

Meanwhile, DIT is aiming to develop software like Text to Speech, Speech Recognition system, and Optical Character Recognition system on Dzongkha Debian Linux in the second phase. Text to Speech programme will read out text from the screen in Dzongkha. “This will be of big use to people, who cannot read or write,” he said. The Speech Recognition system will make the computer type any dictation. “We have the capacity and are confident of doing it,” said Pema Geley.

DIT has also released a 222-paged book on dzongkha computer terms. Officials said that they will also conduct a training for interested people. Meanwhie, the software will be posted on www.druknet.bt soon and can be downloaded for free. Live CDs are available at DIT.