FOLT: Free Software for Translators

Nov 15, 2007

The Initiative Forum Open Language Tools (FOLT), which develops software for translators has published initial results.

FOLT is an umbrella for translation businesses and freelancers, universities and federal agencies who together form an expert committee that develops standardized exchange formats for multilingual documentation and new translation technologies.

Although the initiative is at an early stage, Thomas Wedde from Docconsult published tangible plans for an Open Source Translation Memory System (TMOSS) in his talk at the Lisog Open Source day. The software is designed to be Web-based and to support translators independently of proprietary databases, for example, by means of context-sensitive detection and translation. In addition to this, the system helps to ensure consistent and efficient translations by detecting previously translated passages.

The system, for which a Exposé was published in October will be released entirely under the GPLv3; it will possess a modular structure and support various interfaces to other programs.

Users familiar with Translation Memory Technologie can visit the FOLT website and support the FOLT working groups by taking part in a survey. Their answers in the fields of cost, usability and interoperability will actively influence the Open Source project. On top of this, the project is looking for developers interested in contributing free code.

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