在 Linux 上使用日文

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System Administration

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Lee Wee Tiong 目前就讀於日本 Kyoto 大學。他從一年前起開始用 Linux，現在在電腦上同時安裝 Windows 98 和 Redhat 5.1，原因是因為 Linux 還是無法支援他買的一部並列掃瞄器。他非常後悔買了這一部便宜貨....

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本篇文章旨在讓讀者認識如何使 Linux 系統有處理日文的能力。

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簡介

這篇文章是給想在 Linux 上用日文的使用者。我假設你想在 Linux 用日文，但又不想去翻那些日文的說明手冊。也就是說我把你當成是日文新手... ;-)

基本上要在 Linux 上用日文有兩種方法 -- 難的，和簡單的。你可以買一套日文的 Linux 套件，這是簡單的方法。因為你只要按套件的指示裝完 Linux，你的日文系統也就裝好了。另一種方法是從網上下載你需要的日文程式和文件，再自行編譯和安裝。這種方法其實說難也不是很難，只是實際安裝過程和你現在使用的系統設定方式有很大的關係。請參考稍後的說明。

在文章中我引用了很多網路上的資源，可惜有些只有日文的版本。但就算你不是很喜歡讀日文，能夠在螢幕上看到日文還是比看一堆亂碼好些! 因此在繼續下一節之前我先解釋一套讓你在網路瀏覽器上看日文的速成方法。

打開你的 Netscape Communicator/Navigator
點選 View -> Encoding。你應該可以看到一張字元碼的列表。
選取 Japanese (Auto-Detect)。這一選項應該可以使用在大部分的日文網頁上，但如果不成，你可以試試 Japanese (Shift_JIS) 或 Japanese (EUC-JP)。

我個人用的是隨 Redhat 5.1 附的 Netscape Communicator 4.05，對顯示日文沒有什麼問題。

使用日文的 Linux 套件

我個人認為這是最簡單的一種方法。如果你正想安裝 Linux 同時又想要使用日文，就可以用這個方式。底下是我熟悉的日文 Linux 套件的列表，包括網頁的地址和一些介紹。

名稱網頁語言介紹

Plamo Linux 日文以 Slackware 為基礎組成的 Linux。有日文的安裝程式，Mule, Tex 和其它日文化的應用程式。最新的版本是 1.4。可以從這裡下載。另外有一個求助的郵件討論區。

Vine Linux 日文以 Redhat 5.x 組成。內含日文安裝程式，PJE 來的應用程式和自行開發的 Vine 工具。最新的版本是 1.0 beta 1。從這裡下載。也有成立一個郵件討論區。

TurboLinux (Japanese) 日文請參考其英文的說明 http://www.pht.com/products/index.html.

Linux MLD III 日文不須要硬碟分割的 Linux 。

Power Linux 日文有 Intel 和 Macintosh 的版本。

名稱	網頁語言	介紹
Plamo Linux	日文	以 Slackware 為基礎組成的 Linux。有日文的安裝程式，Mule, Tex 和其它日文化的應用程式。最新的版本是 1.4。可以從這裡下載。另外有一個求助的郵件討論區。
Vine Linux	日文	以 Redhat 5.x 組成。內含日文安裝程式，PJE 來的應用程式和自行開發的 Vine 工具。最新的版本是 1.0 beta 1。從這裡下載。也有成立一個郵件討論區。
TurboLinux (Japanese)	日文	請參考其英文的說明 http://www.pht.com/products/index.html.
Linux MLD III	日文	不須要硬碟分割的 Linux 。
Power Linux	日文	有 Intel 和 Macintosh 的版本。

The language column refers to the language the homepage is in. Please don't get discouraged just because they are all in Japanese. Some of the distributions, namely Plamo Linux and Vine Linux, offer free downloads through anonymous FTP.

I've tried installing Plamo Linux 1.3 and TurboLinux 3.0-J beta5 and I'm happy to say that they met most of my needs.

Installing Japanese Packages

You've already installed a Linux distribution on your system and you don't want to install a brand new one just for the sake of using Japanese. Well, that's fine with me. You just need to grab the various Japanese software packages and install them on top of your Linux system. Sounds easy, isn't it? Wrong! First, where on Earth can you lay your hands on those Japanese software packages? And how would you know which one to choose? Luckily for you, some volunteer groups have kindly packaged for us a nice bundle of Japanese software ready to use. Just visit their homepages and download the packages targeted for your system.

Name Language Remarks

Project Japanese Extensions (PJE) Japanese Latest version is 0.1.5 and should run smoothly on Redhat 4.2 and Slackware 3.5. Redhat 5.x users can't use this version. You could use 0.3alpha instead, but it is, as its name suggests, alpha quality. Download here. And don't forget to read the PJE-HOWTO, which is available in both English and Japanese. My advice is: try reading the HOWTO before even attempting to download any of the stuff.

Japanese RPM Project (JRPM) Japanese This volunteer group packages Japanese software using the RPM utility developed by Redhat. There are currently packages for both Redhat 4.2 and 5.x systems. You can download them from here. The i386 column is divided into two parts: the upper one is for Redhat 4.2 and the lower for Redhat 5.x.

Debian JP Project English/Japanese If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, then you're in luck. It's easy to Japanize your system using packages provided by this volunteer group.

Name	Language	Remarks
Project Japanese Extensions (PJE)	Japanese	Latest version is 0.1.5 and should run smoothly on Redhat 4.2 and Slackware 3.5. Redhat 5.x users can't use this version. You could use 0.3alpha instead, but it is, as its name suggests, alpha quality. Download here. And don't forget to read the PJE-HOWTO, which is available in both English and Japanese. My advice is: try reading the HOWTO before even attempting to download any of the stuff.
Japanese RPM Project (JRPM)	Japanese	This volunteer group packages Japanese software using the RPM utility developed by Redhat. There are currently packages for both Redhat 4.2 and 5.x systems. You can download them from here. The i386 column is divided into two parts: the upper one is for Redhat 4.2 and the lower for Redhat 5.x.
Debian JP Project	English/Japanese	If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, then you're in luck. It's easy to Japanize your system using packages provided by this volunteer group.

As of the time of writing, Japanese packages for glibc-based systems are few. libc-based systems like Slackware 3.5, S.u.S.E. 5.3 and OpenLinux 1.3 should encounter no major problems installing and using Japanese. As PJE has provided a well-written PJE-HOWTO, I won't delve into its installation details. libc-based Linux users would do fine using PJE 0.1.5. As for glibc-based Linux users (e.g. Redhat 5.x), here are some tips:

try using PJE-0.3alpha.
download the RPMs prepared by JRPM.
compile from source.
the glibc on some systems, for example Redhat 5.2, cannot handle Japanese locale correctly, so you have to install libwcsmbs and wcsmbs-locale beforehand.

Conclusion

This article tries to give an outline of installing Japanese extensions onto your Linux systems. It gives some information about the various Japanese Linux distributions available and installing Japanese packages onto libc-based systems, with some pointers on how to get glibc-based systems to run Japanese applications thrown in as well. But there are still a lot of things this article fails to address, things like how to read and write using what application, inputting Japanese in Netscape, kana-kanji conversion and so on. But don't worry, as the Japanese packages usually come with a lot of detailed documentation included as well, and you are advised to make full use of them.

This is the first installment of a series of articles on "Japanese on Linux" I'm writing. I haven't really given any thought on what should be written in Part II, perhaps a tutorial on installing onto glibc-based systems? Feedback on this and future articles is most welcome.

For more information:

Japan Linux Users Group at http://www.linux.or.jp/ (English homepage available).
The Tokyo Linux Users Group at http://tlug.linux.or.jp/ (English).
Plamo Linux 1.3 Page at http://www.gihyo.co.jp/SD/plamo/index.html (Japanese).
Japanized Netscape in Linux at http://kichijoji.mech.tuat.ac.jp/~rob/NetscapeV.html (English).
USENET: fj.os.linux and japan.comp.linux (mainly Japanese postings, but English should be okay).
Ken Lunde, Understanding Japanese Information Processing, O'Reilly & Associates, 1993.

These are in addition to the various resources I've mentioned here and there in the article.