[OSM-talk] OSM in India

[Jean-Marc Liotier]

On 16/06/2015 11:42, moltonel 3x Combo wrote:
> Also, even if Hindi maps have no practical use and are "just" good PR, 
> it is worth it. Publicity is a Good Thing when you're trying to grow a 
> community.

Localized names are definitely useful and not just PR :  on top of their 
usage value, they are a major selling point to local governments - which 
are important buyers of GIS solutions, for which Openstreetmap provides 
excellent components... I'm aware of how much influence the effort to 
translate free software to South Africa's eleven official languages has 
had on government adoption - I guess that the same dynamic has also been 
recognized in India and it certainly has potential in other multilingual 
states that major proprietary software editors neglect.

A couple of historical references about the South African effort:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5966
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/en/issue-no-391/computing/translateorg-recogni/en