"We are running beta versions of five Indian language interface and they will be launched in February. In next 15 months, we will offer interface in 13 Indian languages," Red Hat country director for India Javed Tapia said on the sidelines of a MAIT seminar on localisation.
The languages that the company will cover in first phase are Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali and Gujarati. "Red Hat will offer operating system, open office, e-mail client and web browser in 13 Indian languages," he said.
The languages that the company will cover in second phase include Telugu, Marathi, Kannada and Assamese. The 12-member team of the company is working to localise operating system and the three applications in close association with the Red Hat team in Australia.
"Gradually the Indian team working on localisation will expand to 100," Tapia said. The company is also building a new facility in Pune but he refused to disclose its size or investments that will go into it.
Red Hat is expanding its software development and training partners to increase adoption of open source software.
"The number of software development partners has touched 35 and training partners stand at 70. The company also has a tie-up with computer makers like IBM, HCL, Acer, PCS and Wipro," he said.
Tapia said adoption of open source software in India is picking up fast with financial services, education and the government emerging as major customers.
