As much as I love auto-completion in Ubuntu, I wish it were more widespread; for example, you can’t use it with aliases by default. In addition, only some programs auto-complete parameters, but it would be great if all programs could support it. I’m not entirely sure if it’s just the built-ins that do so, but it’s very convenient.

Dvds are much larger and thus the trade-off between enhanced functionality for one language group and basic language support for another is not as strong. This article is not about livedvds.

Also note that the DVDs aren’t made available as part of the shipit program. When LoCo team members from non-english speaking countries request professional looking, Ubuntu branded media from Canonical to hand out at events…these dvds are not made available. That’s significant as LoCo teams are an important part of how Ubuntu spreads out of the linux enthusiast area and into the hands of more mainstream computer users.

Your argument about googling for a solution can equally be applied to argue that a US English cd or dvd should be a LoCo built image and not the default. Why should English be treated preferentially in the default? Why not Chinese? As a global community, the Ubuntu community can either try to treat different language speakers as equals, or they can pick favorite language groups to support with enhanced functionality and offerings. Canonical seems to have chosen to pick favorites.

-jef

But from a quick search in google I was able to find a few versions of Ubuntu’s live DVD in diffrent languages.
here is the link http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors#dvd

The only down side is the fact that its a DVD not a CD but i’m also sure with a bit more time searching goole you can create your own Ubuntu Live CD with support for your native language and you can even upload it somewhere so other people would be able to enjoy it thats what the open source spirit is all about

My understanding is that Canonical makes LoCo’s responsible for re-engineering a livecd for specific local languages.
http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/derivatives
And when they are available Canonical doesn’t even provide them via shipit when they are available. Nor are they linked from the download Ubuntu page. You sort of have to know they exist already to know to look for them buried in the wiki.

Yes sure, you can install language support via the internet as part of the livecd session! So instead of downloading say open office, if you are a native language speaker using the Ubuntu livecd you have to download the language support for the entire desktop…every single time you reboot the livecd…just so you can feel comfortable interacting with the text messages in the language you speak.

Does that make sense to you? Making native language speakers download language support instead of applications? Computing for human beings indeed.

It will be interesting to see how Canonical chooses to make space trade-offs on the livecd once they have their UbuntuOne/Ubunet services up and running. Will they make space for the specialized client software for their web services on the default livecd by throwing out other applications? I guess we will find out.

A livecd is a particularly aggressive size target. Putting open office on a livecd like Ubuntu does comes at a cost..that cost is language support. Those of us who are lucky enough to speak the dominant English language benefit with enhanced functionality, but the cost is to exclude a significant number of other people, speaking lots of other languages from having any functional experience at all. That’s pretty selfish of us English speakers and a narrow view of what it means to be a global community.

Fedora’s default Desktop livecd takes a completely different approach..it provides a wide swath of native language support as exists for all included applications. That’s why open office isn’t included by default in the Fedora Desktop livecd, there just isn’t space for it and its native language support. Ironic…isn’t it. Because open office has very good language support, it makes it harder to include on a livecd in a way that makes use of that language support. Its a catch-22. The livecd target is a very difficult target due to its now relatively small space.

The default Fedora Desktop is equally suitable for users across large chunks of the globe. Not all languages, but a large number. You can get a complete list by looking at the fedora-livecd-desktop-default.ks available from the Fedora spins-kickstarts package. Care to dig up the complete list of languages supported in Ubuntu’s default livecd? Is it just English?

And on top of that Ubuntu’s livecd still doesn’t include that flash browser plugin by default (just like Fedora). It can’t as Ubuntu nor Canonical has distribution rights from Adobe. In Ubuntu, the flash plugin is installed on demand from Adobe’s own website using a packaging trick. It’s probably misleading just a weebit to claim Ubuntu’s livecd is replete with all necessary functionality for the typical user when Adobe’s made a pretty impressive claim that 99% of all users are consuming flash content.

A typical user on average is most likely chinese, and most likely needs the flash browser plugin. The default Ubuntu livecd experience may not serve that person very well at all.

Nowadays, liveusb or other “flash” memory device targets are much much more interesting than livecds. First because more devices, like netbooks, are coming out without cdrom players (this should be a very big deal for Ubuntu supporters as they have a stake in the netbook device arena). Second, because the portable storage formats are getting quite large and quite popular, they represent a moving target in terms of space constraints. They are a spectrum of device sizes which means there is more room to provide a spectrum of downloadable “live” images that take advantage of that space. Third, you can do more than just “live” imaging, you can actually save state on top of the base live image, capturing customizations such as the installation of additional software like the flash web plugin or gwibber so you don’t have to do it over and over again.

I know Fedora has a liveusb solution with data persistence and I’d wager Ubuntu has it too. Instead of talking about livecd’s why don’t you spend some time getting more familiar with the liveusb technologies and other “flash” memory target concepts because they are far more important moving forward than the cd format.

-jef