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Arabic/Persian Script with Debian GNU Linux

Document #PLPC-180010
February 10, 2011

Article and Presentation Available on-line at:
http://www.by-star.net/PLPC/180010

ByStar
E-mail: http://www.by-star.net

Copyright © 2011 ByStar

Permission is granted to make and distribute complete (not partial)

verbatim copies of this document provided that the copyright notice

and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.

Contents

I  Introduction
1 First, Let’s Parse the Title
 1.1 Convivial Perso-Arabic Script with Debian GNU/Linux
 1.2 Part of ByStar User Environment
2 Scope And Purpose
 2.1 Goal and Direction
 2.2 Non Goals
3 Model
4 Philosophical and Moral Dimensions
 4.1 Our Approach: The Convivial Quadrant
 4.2 Libre/Propitary and Convivial/Industrial Software
 4.3 Libre/Propitary and Convivial/Industrial Internet Services
 4.4 Libre/Propitary and Convivial/Industrial Software-Service Continuum
5 Distribution and Support
II  Platform
6 Debian Gnu Linux
 6.1 Debian Squeeze (6.0) and Ubuntu 11.04
III  ByStar Emacs Perso-Arabic User Environment
7 What Is Emacs?
 7.1 Emacs24 and bidi
8 What Is ByStar?
 8.1 ByStar User Environment
9 Perso-Arabic Emacs User Environment
 9.1 Extra Fonts for Emacs
 9.2 Emacs Input Methods
 9.3 Persian Transliteration
 9.4 Multilingualization (M17n) of Spelling Dictionaries
 9.5 M17n of Thesaruses
 9.6 M17n of Dictionaries
 9.7 Bidi and Emacs Packages Problems
IV  Desktop Publishing
10 Persian/Farsi XeLaTeX
 10.1 XePersian
11 Html Generation
 11.1 tex4ht
V  ByStar Autonomous Self-Publication
12 ByStar Libre Content Publication Facilities
 12.1 lcntProc.sh
VI  Federated RePublication
13 Federated Syndication
 13.1 ByTopic.org
VII  Some Examples
14 Persian
 14.1 Persian and English
 14.2 Persian and English
 14.3 Arabic with some English in it
VIII  Direction Statement and ToDO List
15 TODO List
 15.1 Collaboration and Possible Next Steps
 15.2 ToDo List

List of Figures

About This Document

This document has been web published as PLPC-XXX. The access page for this document is: It is available in pdf format at: xxx and as html at: yyy

Part I
Introduction

1 First, Let’s Parse the Title

1.1 Convivial Perso-Arabic Script with Debian GNU/Linux

  • Convivial: Not in the American/English sense of the word.

    In its Globish sense as introduced by Ivan Illich in “Tools For Conviviality”.

    Expressing the correct relationship between “Tool User”, “Tool” and “Tool Maker”.

    In this context, in Geek lingo: emacs and TeX.

  • Perso-Arabic Script: Text processing in:
    • The Persian family of languages: (Farsi, Dari, Urdu, Pashto/Afghanic, Sindhi, Kashmiri, Uighuric)
    • The Arabic family of languages: (Arabic, Maghribi, Jawi/Old-Malay)
  • Debian GNU/Linux: A paricular rev./generation (Squeeze/6.0) providing a stable and consistent libre platform.

1.2 Part of ByStar User Environment

  • What is the ByStar Federation of Autonomous Libre Services?
  • What is the ByStar User Environment?

2 Scope And Purpose

2.1 Goal and Direction

  • To create a healthy, strong and complete environment for producing documents in Arabic/Persian script
  • Totally open and CopyLeft
  • An asset for humanity
  • In harmony with Debian GNU/Linux
  • Multi-Lingual Editing Capabilities – Persian/Farsi, Arabic, Chinese, Hendi, Latin
  • Given Debian and a local repository (persian.bybinary.org), provide everything.
  • A pedagogical tool for language learning

2.2 Non Goals

  • Ease of Use
  • Purity of Persian or Arabic input system

3 Model

  • Platform (Debian)
  • User Environment (Emacs24 with bidi, ByStar EOE)
  • Desktop Publishing (XeLaTeX, XePersian, tex4ht)
  • Autonomous Self Publication Facilities (ByStar)
  • Federated Syndication – Re-Publishing

Figure ?? shows these as layers.


PIC

Figure 1: publicationLayers


4 Philosophical and Moral Dimensions

4.1 Our Approach: The Convivial Quadrant

  1. Microsoft Word, ... – Proprietary and Industrial.
  2. Open Office Writer, ... – Libre but Industrial.
  3. Emacs and XeTeX – Convivial.

4.2 Libre/Propitary and Convivial/Industrial Software

Figure ?? shows ...


PIC

Figure 2: libreConvivialQuadrant


4.3 Libre/Propitary and Convivial/Industrial Internet Services

Figure ?? shows ...


PIC

Figure 3: convivialServicesQuadrant


4.4 Libre/Propitary and Convivial/Industrial Software-Service Continuum

Figure ?? shows ...


PIC

Figure 4: convivialSoftwareServicesQuadrant


5 Distribution and Support

  • Part of ByStar User Environment. Recommended.
  • A La Carte. Here is the information. You are on your own.

Part II
Platform

6 Debian Gnu Linux

6.1 Debian Squeeze (6.0) and Ubuntu 11.04

  • Debian Squeeze (6.0)
  • Ubuntu 11.04

Nothing less will do beacuse bidi was missing in emacs and XePersian was not quite ready until 2010.

  • ByStar User Environment

Part III
ByStar Emacs Perso-Arabic User Environment

7 What Is Emacs?

7.1 Emacs24 and bidi

  • emacs-snapshot is not part of Squeeze, get it from ...
  • Persian fonts
  • Persian input methods
  • Arabic input methods
  • Persian spell checkers

8 What Is ByStar?

8.1 ByStar User Environment

  • Point to relevant docs.

9 Perso-Arabic Emacs User Environment

9.1 Extra Fonts for Emacs

  • Persian: XB Zar, ...
  • Arabic: Lateef, ...

9.2 Emacs Input Methods

  • Native Keybaords: Arabic M-: (set-input-method ’arabic) (set-input-method ’farsi)
  • Transliteration: Persian M-: (set-input-method ’farsi-translit)
  • Predictive Phonetic Input (PPI): e.g., pinglish

9.3 Persian Transliteration

Generated with M-: (describe-input-method ’farsi-translit)

Generated with  M-: (describe-input-method 'farsi-translit)  
     +------------------------------------------------------------+  
     | ! | @ | # |  |  | | & |  | ( | ) | - | =+ | ‘|  
     +------------------------------------------------------------+  
       |  | W || R | ł | Y | U | ŁI |O | P | [{ | ]} |  
       +------------------------------------------------------------+  
        |  |  | D | F | G | h | J | K | L | : | '" | \| |  
        +-----------------------------------------------------------+  
          |  |  | C | V | B | N | M | < | .> | / |  
          +-------------------------------------------------+  
    +-----------------------------+  
    |          space bar          |  
    +-----------------------------+  
 
--- ---- --- ---- --- ---- --- ---- --- ----  
ch    hh     kh      sh      zh

9.4 Multilingualization (M17n) of Spelling Dictionaries

ispell/aspect used with multiple dictionaries.

  • Persian/Farsi aspell dictionaries
  • Arabic aspell dictionaries

9.5 M17n of Thesaruses

dict protocol used with multiple thesaruses.

  • Persian/Farsi thesaruses
  • Arabic thesaruses

9.6 M17n of Dictionaries

dict protocol used with multiple dictionaries.

  • Persian/Farsi dictionaries
  • Arabic dictionaries
  • eng-arabic + arabic-eng
  • eng-farsi + farsi-eng

9.7 Bidi and Emacs Packages Problems

  • Gnus – Bugs: Summary buffer messed up
  • Supercite:
  • When bidi is on, arithmetic segments should remain left to right.
  • m17n library: lengthened characters at the end of a word.

Part IV
Desktop Publishing

10 Persian/Farsi XeLaTeX

10.1 XePersian

  • XB Zar Fonts

11 Html Generation

11.1 tex4ht

  • htxelatex is missing. Needs work.

Part V
ByStar Autonomous Self-Publication

12 ByStar Libre Content Publication Facilities

12.1 lcntProc.sh

  • Point to relevant PLPC.

Part VI
Federated RePublication

13 Federated Syndication

13.1 ByTopic.org

  • ByTopic.org.

Part VII
Some Examples

14 Persian

14.1 Persian and English

  • Gharbzadegi
  • This articleFa.tex and presentationFa.tex

14.2 Persian and English

  • This articleEn.tex and presentationEn.tex

14.3 Arabic with some English in it

  • TBD

Part VIII
Direction Statement and ToDO List

15 TODO List

15.1 Collaboration and Possible Next Steps

  • Get a ByName.net acct
  • Install Debian Squeeze on your computer
  • Install ByStar User Environment with matching ByName.net on your computer.
  • Use the ByStar Perso-Arabic Script
  • Report Bugs and suggest improvements
  • Assist in completing this manual – particularly the Arabic parts

15.2 ToDo List

  • XeLaTeX for tex4ht
  • Persian Dictionaries – None found at this time
  • Persian Thesaurus – None found at this time
  • Pinglish for emacs
  • eng-persian dictionary
  • persian-eng dictionary

Colophon

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It uses LaTeX, beamer, ByStar, Blee, Emacs, ...

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