This time instead of trying SCIM or Ibus I just went for FCITX. After the initial install of Debian 8 Jessie’s fcitx-sunpinyin package, I had to do only a couple of command line statements, and it configured properly. This gave me a crude but working simplified Chinese input and display. Though it looks out of place with the slickness of Enlightenment E17, I am fine with it.
Puppy Linux Tahr 5.0.6 fits into 1G of disk space and runs well on only 500mb of RAM on an old XP box.
Previously I installed Puppy Linux Slako 5.7.1 with SCIM Chinese. Since I regularly use Ubuntu I thought it best to install Puppy Linux Tahr 5.0.6, commonly called “tahrpup” instead. I tried to install SCIM Chinese teh same way as on the Slacko version, and it failed. Eventually I did get the FCITX Chinese to install. It works very well, but was somewhat difficult to find out what works.
I have an old dell desktop with Win XP on it that runs slowly. Though it is old I thought I’d try a different Linux distribution on it. The smaller ones were Puppy Linux Precise 5.7.1 2013, and Debian Dog Jesse. Here is how I put Chinese input on Puppy Linux Precise 5.7.1.
My old Dell is a Dimension 1100/B110, 2006, P4 Celeron, 2.66mhz, 778mb ram. It is old.
Chinese input is fun, for the warped mind that I am. Yes, it is exceptionally difficult to learn Chinese, but after that little hurdle, and significant eye strain, it is fun. Chinese input methods on Ubuntu 14.04 is somewhat confusing, as it is very easy to install, both for SunPinyin and Pinyin yet there are bugs. I installed SunPinyin, and when I could not input certain characters, also installed Pinyin. Here are the ones I found, and their fixes.
Usually I’m working in Ubuntu, so cannot use the PC version of QQ. I’ve had to either switch to Windows or use QQ International through my smartphone. Typing on my smartphone in Chinese and English is challenging and fraught with spelling mistakes. I’m having trouble accurately typing Chinese pinyin on my phone. The alternative is to use QQ with a browser.
You can use the browser version of QQ when you are on ubuntu, but I could not find any instructions on how to do this. Here is what to do: