Hindi looses out in latest Firefox release
The latest version of Mozilla Firefox, Firefox 3 has just been released in a total of 46 different languages. Firefox is, of course the latest version of Mozilla’s popular open source web browser which is, together with Apple’s Safari, a direct competitor of the ubiquitous Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Microsoft’s Internet explorer is by far the most widely used web browser, however, Firefox is gaining in popularity as evidenced by the 14 Million registered downloads of the new version within only the first 4 days of release. This is certainly due in part to the fact that there are currently some 6,000 add on tools for Firefox with some 2,000 more planned or already in process.
One thing that is somewhat odd, however, about Mozilla’s latest release is the absence of Hindi but the inclusion of Punjabi and Gujarati amongst the released versions. Hindi is of course, together with English one of the two official languages for use throughout all Governmental and Official Organisations within the Republic of India whilst, Punjabi and Gujarati are official State languages within the Punjab and Gujarat but are less well known outside their home States.
When questioned about this omission, a Mozilla spokesman explained that there were no specific criteria for inclusion or exclusion of any particular language but that like a lot of open source software, add-on packs, or in this case localised versions of the software, are purely translated and driven forward by dedicated local volunteers. In the case of Hindi, the spokesman pointed out that there were, in fact, Hindi language packs on the Mozilla website, but that they needed to be further developed by dedicated volunteers; he further called for such volunteers to come forward so that Hindi might be included in the future.