Arabic on the Internet: Links and Resources

The following is a list of sites that would be interesting for those who want to read Arabic on the internet, or would want to research the technology behind it further.

Independant Software Vendors

As the PC became popular, some independant software vendors specialized in Arabic products, such as Arabic capable terminals, printers, terminal emulators, ...etc.

These include:

• Sakhr/Al-Alamiah (Kuwait). They were the first to create an Arabic version of Windows 3.x, in the early 1990s. Microsoft hired the lead developer at Sakhr by offering a better package. Sakhr had a law suit, which was settled later. After that, it was Microsoft's version of Arabic that became a de facto standard in the region. Sakhr later moved development to Cairo, Egypt. It is now known as Harf.
• 01 Systems is a Bahrain based company specializing in Arabic products. Their Nafitha was well known among MS-DOS users, and the Jessr terminal emulator as well.
• globAlis, previously known as Alis, is a Montreal, Canada based company specializing in Arabic products, such as terminals, printers, and terminal emulators (Al-Sabil).
• SEDCO is a Jordan based company providing peripherals and terminal emulators that support Arabic.

Standards

• Unicode Standard Annex #9: The Bidirectional Algorithm
• ECMA Technical Report #53: Handling Bidirectional Texts from June 1992, so a bit out of date.

Arabic Character Sets

• The Unicode Standard Version 4.0 - Arabic section (PDF) has a lot of information on how to handle Arabic correctly, joining, ...etc.
• Unicode Arabic Shaping table. Also includes Syriac, and the additional characters in Persian and Urdu.
• Microsoft Code page 1256, used by Windows, and by many web sites. Superceded by Unicode.
• ISO Character Set 8859-6 (Arabic)
• List of Code Pages
• UTF-8
• Interactive Unicode Chart. Arabic starts at Hex FE80.

HOW TOs, Guides, ...etc.

• Arabic HOWTO on Linux by Mohammed Elzubeir of Arab Eyes.
• Mandrake Arabic support
• Arabic Documentation Standards By Mohammed Elzubeir of Arab Eyes. This is a document that sets some standards to be followed for those involved in Arabic technical documentation.
• Arabic Translator Guide By Arab Eyes. This is a guide for Arabeyes' translators and those wanting to join the Arabeyes translation team, but useful for others as well.

History and Origins

• An excellent article on Arabic Calligraphy by Mamoun Sakkal. It includes a good overview on the Arabic script, its origins, history and development.

Arabic on the Web

• Arabic 2000: How to read Arabic on W3? - This is a comprehensive page covering all platforms including Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX/Linux. Readable in English.
• Internet Horizons: How to view Arabic - Another comprehensive page covering all platforms. Readable in English
• Assr.org: How to read Arabic on the Internet - A summary page in English.
• Al Saha Arabization Web Page - This page addresses Microsoft Windows only. It is in Arabic, and is readable using any Graphics-capable browser on any platform.
• Linux4Arab How to view Arabic Text - A page with a collection of links for viewing Arabic on different platforms.
• Nicholas Heer's Page on HTML and Arabic - A very comprehensive set of links on Arabic and Persian HTML for various platforms, including DOS, Windows, Linux, Mac, ...etc.
• Yamada Arabic WWW Guide - Arabic Links to Fonts, Newsgroups, some web sites, ...etc.
• Non-English and the Net - Written by Knut S. Vikom Norway. A survey on problems and solutions of Non-English languages (including Arabic) on the net. Focuses on Mac and Eudora.
• Some links about Arabic on the net by Ivo Spira. Mainly for non Arabic speakers who are studying the language, not computer specific.
• Arabic, The Big Problem is an article by Mohamed Sameer on issues concering Arabic in software.

Specific Platform Issues

• Arabic Mosaic for Linux and UNIX - Langbox, a company specializing in UNIX arabization, has an Arabic/Latin Web browser for various UNIX and Linux platforms. They also have a brief discussion on various Arabic character sets, and other Arabization issues on the Web. It is a bit out of date but still very useful.
• Ahmed AbdelHamid ACON - Arabic Console for Linux.
• Mozilla Bi-Di Support Project - This is a project aiming at providing Mozilla (which is an Open Source version of Netscape) with bidirectional (Bi-Di) support for languages that use right to left direction (Arabic and Hebrew).
• Mac Arabic on the Net - A discussion on using Arabic Macintosh on the Internet. Very useful for Mac lovers.

Miscellaneous

• Aunyx an Arabic language webzine on Open Source.