Free (freedom) dictionaries repo

[ndroftheline]

Greetings to all!

I am a development worker in the Philippines. My organization is asking for ideas in partnering with Random Hacks of Kindness (rhok.org). My idea is to convert the GNU Common International Dictionary of English (GCIDE) (http://www.ibiblio.org/webster/) for use in GoldenDict and other, similar dictionary readers for offline use. It's important to me because most of us in this organization work in places where the Internet is either unavailable or very bad - so offline resources are critical.

I am really surprised that it is so difficult to find Free-as-in-freedom dictionary files. I have found several websites that claim to offer this kind of thing but ultimately fail to, either by providing a very limited format set (http://www.popdict.com/encyclop_english.htm - even specifically says "dictionaries are only compatible with popupdictionary) or not actually providing downloads of real dictionaries, or stating that use of the files is restricted somehow (http://www.dicts.info/dictionaries.php).

So I'm querying this forum to get:
1. Comments on converting GCIDE - is it a good idea? is it technically feasible, given the hackathon-style appraoch that rhok uses?
2. Leads on more Free-as-in-freedom offline dictionaries that can be converted or simply included if an actual repository can be sponsored.

RHOK's response and interest will be directly proportionate to the quality of my "idea suggestion". If this turns out the way I hope it does, GoldenDict may benefit greatly from the sudden provision of a real, sustainable repository where people can *easily* download Free-as-in-freedom offline dictionary files. I want to provide RHOK with a laundry list of functional links to dictionary content, information on what dictionary formats are the best, instructions on converting dictionary formats, conversion scripts, and anything else that may be useful. Help me make this happen!

Thanks,

ndroftheline

[CFynn]

It should be possible (and fairly easy) to create a repository for dictionaries on GitHub or on Google Code. There are already repositories for a few individual dictionaries on both places.
If someone wants to set up a repository like this for multiple dictionaris, I have data for several dictionaries that could be contributed - and I'm sure others would too.

One thing to think about - what format(s) should the dictionary data be stored in (e.g. StarDict, XDXF, Dict)?

- C

[ndroftheline]

I welcome any suggestions on what format would be of the greatest benefit.

I also invite anybody with Free-as-in-freedom dictionary files to PM me so I can provide your dictionary files to the rhok team (if my proposal is accepted).

I also invite any advice on promoting the repository if it's created. That is, how do we get the word out that THIS is the place to download Free-as-in-freedom dictionary files?

[CFynn]

A list of free licences suitable for dictionary data files would be useful.

XDXF seems to be a useful easy to edit data format for dictionaries which is quite rich - unfortunately the makedict program used to convert XDXF to STarDict format seems to ignore many XDXF tags.

[Tvangeste]

A list of free licences suitable for dictionary data files would be useful.

Personally, I don't care much about licenses. As long as the dictionary is under open-source or open-documentation license, it's good enough for me.

XDXF seems to be a useful easy to edit data format for dictionaries which is quite rich - unfortunately the makedict program used to convert XDXF to STarDict format seems to ignore many XDXF tags.

XDXF format seems to be in limbo, not properly maintained and updated, with no authoritative place that contains proper format description and tools. There are many incompatible implementations, etc. After carefully evaluating the XDXF I decided against it and never create dictionaries in this format.

If you're looking for a nice, simple (but full-featured) text-based format, I suggest to look at DSL.

Here's a sample: https://github.com/Tvangeste/SampleDSL

And here's the description: http://lingvo.helpmax.net/en/troublesho ... -compiler/

The only problem with DSL format (for me) is that it doesn't have a good app on iOS. But there are excellent apps on PC and Android (GoldenDict, obviously ). But it is easy to convert DSL to StarDict and there are multiple apps that understand StarDict format on Android.

All in all, DSL seems to be a winner for me.

[CFynn]

I know the DSL file format is published - but is it a considerd to be a free (open) format or is it a propriatory format? That's not quite clear to me. I'd hate for Lingvo to come along one day and claim some sort of rights on a dictionary because it used their format.

Also in their list of "Supported Languages" http://lingvo.helpmax.net/en/troublesho ... languages/
none of the languages I have dictionary data for (Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sanskrit) - which all use complex scripts - is listed.

[FlexS]

I know the DSL file format is published - but is it a considerd to be a free (open) format or is it a propriatory format? That's not quite clear to me. I'd hate for Lingvo to come along one day and claim some sort of rights on a dictionary because it used their format.

Also in their list of "Supported Languages" http://lingvo.helpmax.net/en/troublesho ... languages/
none of the languages I have dictionary data for (Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sanskrit) - which all use complex scripts - is listed.

We need to have a new DSLGD format.

[wilo108]

TEI (P5) with the dictionaries module would appear to be the best choice, imo:

http://www.tei-c.org/release/doc/tei-p5 ... ml/DI.html

[dummie]

You need a Lingvo files list or links?