Do you use Wordfast on Linux? Watch out for keyboard shortcuts!

There are likely few translators using Linux. The mere fact that the most wildly used CAT tool on the market, SDL Trados Studio, is not compatible with Linux discourages translators from considering this free, cost-effective and efficient operating system. However, it is an excellent alternative to Windows and Mac.  Moreover, there are many translation software options, some of which can be used on Linux. You can find the list on the Linux for Translators website. However, if you are a translator interested in Linux, you should know that it supports professional translation project management without issue. You just need to choose a CAT tool other than SDL Studio, and translate away!

My first choice: Wordfast

Personally, I have been using Wordfast since I started my career as a translator. In fact, this was the tool we used during the CAT course I took as part of my translation studies.  Furthermore, Wordfast offers a free demo mode, which is convenient for novel translators as they often have limited funds. This demo mode can be used for an unlimited time. The only drawback is the number of translation units per translation memory, which cannot exceed 500 units. I have always been happy with Wordfast, so I ended up purchasing a licence just over a year ago.

In the time I used Wordfast, I only encountered one annoying technical problem. It was related to working on Linux Ubuntu, and I share it here for colleagues who might face the same issue. One day, while working on Wordfast, after a mistype, my work window suddenly disappeared. The programme was open, as the menu appeared at the top of the screen, but the window was not there. I tried everything, clicking everywhere in the menu because I might have accidentally changed the Wordfast screen configuration, but my efforts were in vain. I had to open a second work window, where I reopened the document I was working on.

I continued like this for months. One day, while switching workspaces (it is possible to have several virtual desktops on Ubuntu), I caught a glimpse of a very small window (really tiny, measuring 1 cm by 1 cm). It was the Wordfast window! I maximised it, and everything went back to normal.

But what had happened?

While searching for information on how to resize work windows in Ubuntu, I found the answer. As explained on this page, you can maximise and minimise windows using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + ↑ or ↓. These shortcuts are somewhat similar to those in Wordfast, but they are not all the same. In Wordfast, the shortcut Alt + ↑ or ↓ is used to move between segments, either to the previous or the next respectively. Since the Shift key and the Alt key are next to each other, it is easy to hit one instead of the other. Mystery solved!

Despite this incident, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I am generally happy with Wordfast. But for quite some time, I have wanted to try OmegaT, a CAT tool that has the merit of being an open-source software. I have decided to use it for my next translation project.

And you? Has Linux piqued your interest yet?