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The government wants to stave off a possible Microsoft monopoly

Staving off a possible Microsoft monopoly and promoting Khmer-language computing are the driving ideas behind a Cambodian government project that promises to bring free Khmer software to Cambodian computers by next year.

Open source software is being translated into Khmer by software developers at Open Forum of Cambodia, a non-government organisation in Phnom Penh that is working with the government on the project.

A Khmer version of software programs - which can run on Microsoft Windows and includes programs similar to Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point - is being tested and has been distributed to more than 1,000 computers around the country, according to Noy Shoung,  the  official responsible for promoting the software.

The software, available through OpenOffice.org,  is joined by a Khmer-language version of the Firefox internet browser and the Thunderbird e-mail software program.

The benefit for young Cambodians from the countryside  who hope to  get a high-paying office job is that they no longer have to spend months learning English before sitting down for computer lessons.

It will also be much easier to teach government officials to use computers, said Noy Shoung,  the deputy secretary-general of the National Information Communications Technology Developments Authority.

Javier Sola,  the co-ordinator of Open Forum's Khmer Software Initiative, said: 'How can you computerise the government if not everyone speaks English? You cannot run a government on a foreign language.'

Cambodia, which is struggling to recover from decades of war and turmoil, has about one computer for every 1,000 people, according to an  estimate by the International Telecommunication Union.

Cambodia  joined the World Trade Organisation last year. The expectation that it will eventually begin enforcing intellectual property laws means that cheap, pirated software might not be as easy to obtain in Cambodia  in the future.

Another important issue is that Microsoft has no plans to translate its new operating system software, due out at the end of 2006, into Khmer, said Keo Sophorn, a software programmer at Open Forum.

'Microsoft is good, but on the other hand, it is very expensive. So it is not suitable for our own society,' he said. 'And open source software is comparable to Microsoft.'

Part of Open Forum's role in the project is to come up with a Khmer computer glossary that expands the meaning of Khmer words to fit into technical terms, rather than using English words that are more difficult for Cambodians to memorise.

That is what makes the project as much cultural as it is technical, Mr Sola said. It is partly about fending off foreign words and maintaining the Khmer language, he said.

A copy of the government's master plan for promoting open source shows the government hopes to install a Khmer-language Linux open source operating system, which would run in place of the Microsoft Windows operating system, by next year. Government computers would then be completely free of Microsoft.

Government officials were trained in April on the OpenOffice.org software in  Stung Treng  province, near the  Laos border. Most officials who attended the training were already familiar with computers, 'so it was easy for them to learn,' said Ourn Bora,  chief of cabinet for Stung Treng's provincial government.

'This is about national dignity to see Khmer script on a computer. It is historical,' he said.

But if open source does not catch on with computer users, at least the government will have a card to play with Microsoft if  it ever decides to enter the Cambodian market, Mr Sola said.

'With open source, you have nothing to lose,' he said. 'When you have choice, you have power. You can negotiate with Microsoft, which no country has ever done.'



Cambodia pledges free Khmer software by 2006