Adding Unicode Sinhala (සිංහල) to GNU/Linux (ලිනක්ස්)
This project began in 2003 on a lug.lk mailing list.
Enabling Unicode Sinhala in GNU/Linux (Debian and Ubuntu)
What is available?
- LKLUG Unicode Sinhala font
- Wijesekera, phonetic and transliterated input methods
How to install
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As root/superuser, do:
Debian 5.0 (Lenny) and Above (may work on older versions)
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Install packages:
apt-get install ttf-sinhala-lklug scim scim-gtk2-immodule im-switch scim-m17n m17n-db m17n-contrib
Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid) and Above (may work on older versions)
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The Universe repository should already be enabled (wiki.ubuntu.com/AlwaysEnableUniverseMultiverse). If not, first enable the Universe repository.
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Install packages:
apt-get install ttf-sinhala-lklug scim scim-gtk2-immodule im-switch scim-m17n m17n-db m17n-contrib language-pack-si-base
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- From your user account (i.e. not root) run:
rm -f ~/.xinput.d/* ; im-switch -z all_ALL -s scim-immodule
- Logout and login again. Environment variables need to be set/updated (NO NEED TO REBOOT)
How to test
Visit si.wikipedia.org and see if the Sinhala letters render correctly.
Copy and paste some of the content from Sinhala wikipedia to Open Office Writer. Then highlight the Sinhala text and choose the LKLUG font to display them.
To test SCIM, press Control-space whilst you are running a GNOME application. Then select one of the Sinhala input methods.