Never-ending story
It ain't easy. No way.
After almost 15 years as a freelance translator, I thought I was quite prepared for whatever my clients might throw at me.
How wrong I was!
I use Linux - at least my main machine boots into Linux. Like the vast majority of my co-sufferers, I have to use Trados, and that means Windows, too. However, I was able to circumvent this problem and prevent the Redmond Rogue from overtaking my machine by using virtualization.
I've managed to contain Windows by using vmware :)
So, everything that requires Windows runs under Linux, inside this virtual machine, which is NOT allowed to access the Internet. The end result is that the "windowed" Windows XP runs faster in vmware than natively - since I don't have to burden the OS with firewalls, antiviruses, etc., which all slow Windows down, sometimes to a crawl...
Getting it all to work seamlessly wasn't trivial, but now I've got a working system with the best of both worlds - and almost no worries about viruses, trojans, backdoors, etc...
Anyway, I was using this setup quite successfully for years now, when my main client decided to switch to proprietary translation system, which is (ouch!) Internet-based - meaning I have to be online all the time while translating (in Windows)... :(
Not only Internet-based, but some of its features (e.g. invoicing) are accessible only through MS IE :(
Time for more tinkering...
The problem of Web-based translation work was solved by setting up another Windows virtual machine, which is being used only for Web translations (I have to run a firewall in that one, though), and the IE invoicing problem was solved by running IE directly from Linux (installed through Wine).
However, some big changes are on the horizon, and for us translators they mean even less control over the work we do - like doing away with local TMs (on translators' hard disks).
Recently I've even read about "crowdsourcing" in translation context!
Apparently it's a new buzzword among the big players in the l10n field - and a way to squeeze even more profits from the unsuspecting and would-be translators - or should I say "translators"?
It started with Google, I guess - see here or here.
The concept comes from Open Source community - basically you have a vast community of volunteers spread all over the world, and you harness that potential to get something usable - in this case profitable :)
More info and some insightful comments here.
Now, this is something that really makes my stomach turn...
But, I guess those big boys looking to make a quick buck out of it will soon learn the meaning of the phrase "There's no such thing as a free lunch".
After almost 15 years as a freelance translator, I thought I was quite prepared for whatever my clients might throw at me.
How wrong I was!
I use Linux - at least my main machine boots into Linux. Like the vast majority of my co-sufferers, I have to use Trados, and that means Windows, too. However, I was able to circumvent this problem and prevent the Redmond Rogue from overtaking my machine by using virtualization.
I've managed to contain Windows by using vmware :)
So, everything that requires Windows runs under Linux, inside this virtual machine, which is NOT allowed to access the Internet. The end result is that the "windowed" Windows XP runs faster in vmware than natively - since I don't have to burden the OS with firewalls, antiviruses, etc., which all slow Windows down, sometimes to a crawl...
Getting it all to work seamlessly wasn't trivial, but now I've got a working system with the best of both worlds - and almost no worries about viruses, trojans, backdoors, etc...
Anyway, I was using this setup quite successfully for years now, when my main client decided to switch to proprietary translation system, which is (ouch!) Internet-based - meaning I have to be online all the time while translating (in Windows)... :(
Not only Internet-based, but some of its features (e.g. invoicing) are accessible only through MS IE :(
Time for more tinkering...
The problem of Web-based translation work was solved by setting up another Windows virtual machine, which is being used only for Web translations (I have to run a firewall in that one, though), and the IE invoicing problem was solved by running IE directly from Linux (installed through Wine).
However, some big changes are on the horizon, and for us translators they mean even less control over the work we do - like doing away with local TMs (on translators' hard disks).
Recently I've even read about "crowdsourcing" in translation context!
Apparently it's a new buzzword among the big players in the l10n field - and a way to squeeze even more profits from the unsuspecting and would-be translators - or should I say "translators"?
It started with Google, I guess - see here or here.
The concept comes from Open Source community - basically you have a vast community of volunteers spread all over the world, and you harness that potential to get something usable - in this case profitable :)
More info and some insightful comments here.
Now, this is something that really makes my stomach turn...
But, I guess those big boys looking to make a quick buck out of it will soon learn the meaning of the phrase "There's no such thing as a free lunch".
posted by Freelancer at
3:35 PM
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