[Reader-list] Re:National norm for language computing

[Ashhar Farhan]

I guess that the text encoding and font encoding standards are now anchored
firmly with Unicode and OpenType. Together, both are present in all the
newer releases of Microsoft Operating Systems as well as through the
UniScribe API support for the earlier Windows (like Windows 98). For those
interested in finding out more about these two together, I will suggest that
you take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/typography .
Linux too has support for both these standards through the work of
www.freetype.org .
People on this list may not be aware, but CDAC's Gist group is all but gone.
After Tambe left a few years ago, the rest of the core was still intact.
However, in the last one year everyone who was a part of the original team
are gone. Mohanty, who is probably India's best font designer and headed
Fonts at GIST has left. Anupam who developed and lead the ISCII
standardisation has left. Bhatt the man who wrote most of the code for
Language processing has left. Raymond Doctor, the linguist par excellance
who did pioneering work in spell checkers is back to Deccan College with his
teaching job. Finally, even Pujari who ran the GIST project has also left.
This leaves GIST team with only the much junior programmers in charge, with
hardly any continuity with the old. It is not for me to comment upon the
sudden exodus of these people but those who looked up to CDAC to provide any
leadership will have to wait awhile for the GIST group to get its act
together again.

- Ashhar Farhan