Working with native/indigenous communities to build native language LibreOffice projects
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openSUSE Conference 20203 / 45
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CollaborationismFormal languageRevision controlWhiteboardComputerComputer hardwareReading (process)Local ringComputer virusFile formatStandard deviationAreaMereologyLevel (video gaming)Identity managementVideoconferencingBuildingHypermediaOpen sourceOffice suiteWhiteboardMusical ensembleComputer hardwareFormal languageContext awarenessKey (cryptography)View (database)Projective planeProgramming languageGroup actionRun-time systemWage labourReal numberStudent's t-testPosition operatorExpert systemRevision controlComputer animation
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Local GroupProcess (computing)Universe (mathematics)FamilyDecision theoryType theoryData structureWechselseitige InformationEvent horizonSocial classSoftwareMobile appLocal ringCompilation albumChemical polarityOpen sourceIncidence algebraFreewareDifferent (Kate Ryan album)Process (computing)Lattice (order)WordPower (physics)Dynamical systemRule of inferenceForm (programming)Design by contractDecision theoryGroup actionSoftwareOffice suiteProjective planeCollaborationismUniverse (mathematics)Wage labourFamilyData structureAxiom of choiceWechselseitige InformationRepresentation (politics)Disk read-and-write headSelf-organizationEvent horizonCopyright infringementFormal languageSocial classChainLocal ringOffice <Programm>Type theoryWebsiteMobile appInformation securityComplex (psychology)Online helpConnected spaceComputer animation
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Transcript: English(auto-generated)
00:02
Hello. Can everyone hear me? Yes. Great. So, and I'm been wanting. And the other speaker is one show. And our topic today is working with native indigenous communities to build native language liberal office projects.
00:33
This will be a light topic, I think. But it's, it's an important issue.
00:41
So, indigenous people in Taiwan, have been in the social economically disadvantage position due to the historical mistakes made by the government and the dominant class, and whereby the native languages were replaced by Mandarin.
01:04
And in contemporary society, the social economically disadvantage position also excluded the indigenous peoples from the tech from technology. And recently, the government in Taiwan has decided to adopt the ODF format in place of other preparatory formats as the national standard.
01:35
In the meantime, the official documents in indigenous languages policy requires
01:43
official documents to be written in indigenous languages in native areas. So taken this together. There is a rising need in writing liberal office documents in indigenous languages.
02:03
Therefore, native language, language version of liberal office helps both the indigenous people and the government. We believe that if we could provide a more friendly software environment. We can be part of the official documents in indigenous languages policy, and we can increase the usage of indigenous languages with this.
02:35
So this is something we presented last year at the legal con.
02:44
However, this kind of project would often involve complicated issues of identity politics. As we implemented the project this year. There were several public controversy related to ethnicities in Taiwan, such
03:05
as ethnic discrimination on public videos and inappropriate headlines on news media. These speeches, be deliberate or not, would cause harm to ethnic minorities and lead to strains between ethnic groups.
03:29
Therefore, we need to pay more attention to these issues if we are to do things about the indigenous community.
03:40
We have heard a few non-indigenous community members asking us, like, I want to do something to help, but I don't have indigenous friends. So I don't know if I will do something inappropriate. Or they ask, who I can work with can truly represent the indigenous people.
04:01
So to cope with these concerns, we consulted people from the indigenous movement and organized the things we've learned throughout the year. And we've come up with three useful steps to share with you and everyone who want to join or to build an open source project for the indigenous community.
04:25
We believe the first crucial step for an outsider to participate in a project for the
04:42
indigenous community is that we should not be presumptuous about what is good for the community. A classic bad example in this regard is a classroom full of unneeded EY boards and computer hardware upgrades every year.
05:02
We have seen them in some indigenous tribes as well as in urban schools. And some technology experts and some government officials, they think this EY board is a superior technology.
05:20
But they often disregard the real need of teachers and students. Such situations are even more likely to happen in an indigenous context. People often have orientalist biases and make entirely wrong assumptions about the indigenous community.
05:48
But we should really ask, what does it mean to be indigenous? What things do indigenous people need? So the answer can vary from a tribe to another tribe.
06:04
But before diving into a new idea for tech-related projects, you can read some ethnography works, find opinion articles written by local indigenous activists, or just ask them to figure out the answers to the questions if you happen to have indigenous friends.
06:30
What we want to emphasize here is that the key to understanding a different culture is to know the local view. So you will really know what they need and what you can build for them.
06:52
So step two. The second step is to find the right people to connect with. Recently, when the government in Taiwan tried to find representatives for each indigenous people, they selected
07:11
a representative for the Kavalan people who was actually not engaged in indigenous or local affairs. And the incident backfired on the government severely, suggesting that we should be wary
07:28
of the issue of representativeness when we try to connect with the indigenous community. We, ourselves, also made a similar mistake. One of us once went to a tribe to start a collaboration with them,
07:48
but he only got approval from the local priest and the head of the village who was an elected government official. He did not seek permission from the leader of the indigenous tribe, and the leader was quite angry.
08:09
So each group or organization in the indigenous community is a little universe like families, kings, clubs, schools, churches, meetings, tribes, and some that don't even have words for them.
08:27
They are always overlapped and intertwined, and they all have different opinions and interests. Moreover, there are at least three types of indigenous political structures in Taiwan, according to anthropologists.
08:46
And each political structure has its own power dynamics and decision-making rules. Therefore, it is really dangerous just to assume that the indigenous community forms a homogenous whole.
09:05
We should understand and respect the complex and different decision-making processes in each group. You will find the right people to begin your work only after you make efforts to understand the complex realities of the community.
09:25
Or privileged capability exposure to that particular process. And that's the basic idea of how we use our security.
09:42
So why and how does your community keep a strong relationship with an indigenous community? According to an indigenous activist, they often see this urban people who just find the tribe and go in there as if they were to open up a website.
10:02
So seeing strangers in a tribe would make the residents have an aversion or even feel insecure. So avoid this kind of mindset and try to follow these tips. First, gather people familiar with the concept of free and open source software.
10:26
Emphasis on the nonprofit aspect of free software, so they will know that you are not trying to make money out of this. The best way of doing this is to start your first events in a tribe with free classes of labor office and other free software apps.
10:45
Usually education is the neutral concept and it is a trustworthy medium to generate trust. So highlight your project as an educational resource as well. Also, do not stay close with unpopular people and politicians, even when they seem to be very helpful.
11:06
Avoid them forever. If you make your first appearance with people who are not trusted in a tribe, your first impression will surely be affected. So pay attention to the power dynamic in a tribe and choose the right person as we talked about earlier.
11:26
They can be teachers or local NGO workers usually, but they are not politicians usually. And finally, mutual trust needs to support when you are trying to advocate policy.
11:41
The trust that you work hard to build can help you when you are trying to change something in a tribe and even legislation related to your project. For example, if you want to convince a local elementary school to try labor office in class, or if you just want more people to share the concept of free software for you in a tribe, mutual trust can be really helpful.
12:07
So let's recap. We have three steps. The first is to abandon your presumption. Just don't assume anything before you really do your homework. And the second step, find the right people to connect with, like NGO workers or teachers.
12:27
And third, maintain relationships based on mutual trust. And that will really help you when you are trying to make more people use liberal office instead of pirate Microsoft office.
12:44
And this wraps our presentation. And if you want to find out more about our plan, I think if you Google native language, liberal office Taiwan, you will find an article we've written on TDF's website.
13:07
And thank you so much for listening.