About IMLI, and Acharya

License ?

The IMLI applications are provided under the GNU General Public License Version (GPL) v2. The copyright for the software and the library of local language calls is held by the Systems Development Laboratory, IIT Madras. The library is free for public and private use.

What is IMLI ?

IMLI stands for IIT Madras Language Initiative, a cross-platform Open Source project for the development of computer applications supporting user interfaces in Indian languages/scripts. IMLI aims to provide both language enabling and localization with respect to computing with Indian languages.

The Acharya project of which IMLI is an Open Source offshoot was begun in 1991. The software applications (notably the multilingual editor and the speech enhanced software) have been distributed free on the internet from 1994.

Software for the Blind

An important goal of the IMLI project is the availability of local language software for the blind. The current release of the software includes the ability to export Braille text. We are planning to add speech capability to the editor, and this work is currently at the design stage. The Acharya project has already made progress in this direction.

IMLI for Students

The IMLI approach provides a C library for working with multilingual text (the Acharya editor is based on the library). The coding scheme simplifies development of linguistic processing applications, both web-based and native.

Our experience shows that such applications are good choices for UG projects in Engineering Colleges. We would like to encourage the student community to come up with new applications for this technology.

IMLI based tools / applications

IMLI makes simple local language support easy. It also makes complex support possible. Here are some ideas for tools and applications :
  • Text and Linguistic processing including concordance generation, search engines and string processing
  • Database applications
  • Internet applications such as email and chat
  • Web based applications which support interactive pages useful for e-governance and related areas
  • Applications for education and literacy

More info ?

The developers can be reached via the mailing list.