tlug: differences between japanese input methods?

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull@example.com>]

>>>>> "John" == John Seebach <jseebach@example.com> writes:

    John> comparison between the different input methods available
    John> (canna, wmm, etc.) and how they work.

That's because they all work the same.  Type romaji, hit space bar (or
henkan if you've set your keymap for a Japanese kbd) until the
translation you want shows up, hit return to confirm, type more
romaji.

The most important question is whether you will use kinput2/XIM or
not; but this is a front-end to the Wnn 4 (free) or 6 (not), Canna,
SJ3, ATOK, VJE-beta, etc, etc, backends.  (I don't know which of the
proprietary ones are supported, except that Wnn 6 is.)  It allows
seamless integration into the X environment, and a more consistent
interface across applications, plus choice of interface (own top-level
window for the preedit, fixed subwindow of the app (aka status line),
own window over the spot, or on-the-spot (implemented as callbacks to
the app)).  Nobody implementes it well yet (the KDE guy at M17N99 siad
he wasn't happy with KDE's yet, YMMV) but it's very usable and has
nice features (large pop-up selection window for readings with many
candidates).

How well?  The issue here is dictionary, not UI.  The free ones are
all good enough for starters.  Wnn 6 is probably significantly better,
and ATOK which should be available by now is considered best by some
people I trust to have informed opinions.  I use Canna myself, as it
is 100% free.

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