this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
15 points (89.5% liked)

Linux

52723 readers
445 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

So I want to type in my native language, and the easiest tool i know of is this:

https://www.google.com/inputtools/try/

It's not available offline for Linux though. I have tried running some windows executable from archive.org under wine, this didn't work. I also tried some random alternative (Varnam), but it was way too complex of a setup for me. (It kept telling me to compile libraries, and none of it worked in the end)

I want something that can take in english character input and turn it into proper devnagari typeface. If I type in "namaste", it has to come out as नमस्ते. And It has to be Offline.

I haven't found anything that fits to all these categories

Turns out Google Input is my best bet. Is there a way I can get it working?

top 6 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

I did a little digging and it seems like Google had an API for transliteration that they have deprecated.

I was able to find this repo where someone attempted to create a client:

https://github.com/KSubedi/transliteration-input-tools

I have not tested this yet but will probably do some more exploring when I get time.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Have you tried https://mike-fabian.github.io/ibus-typing-booster/ ?

I have not, but I think it does what you're looking for.

The demo video emphasizes its use as an emoji picker but it was originally created for typing Indic languages.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Are you asking for Sanskrit? Why not fcitx5.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Not as good as Google's thing, it's a pain to use. "namaste" (नमस्ते) comes out as "naa-maa-saw-tae"(नामासते), and that's the least inaccurate example

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What is the typing experience that you want, and for which language(s). It's not clear to me, sorry.

It is possible to map keyboard input in various ways. For more complex use-cases, many programs support character substitution as you type (eg. gx could become ĝ automatically).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I don't just want character substitution.

It's for an Indic language. I want it to be so when I type in "namaste", it types it out correctly as: नमस्ते I want it to be offline.

(afaik this is readily available on android devices using google's input software)