Hi everyone. I’m launching Linguist Translate, an open-source, full-featured translation solution with an embedded offline translator based on the Bergamot Project created by Mozilla.
Linguist is not just a wrapper over Google Translator like many other extensions. You can use any translation service with Linguist, thanks to custom translators! You may even deploy any machine translation (like LibreTranslate) on your localhost and then add this service to Linguist.
All features are included: text translation, full-page translation, selected text translation, Text-To-Speech, dictionary, history, and even more.
I just installed it and the default was Google Translate?
You headline here is “privacy focussed offline translation”, which seemed to imply that it was using Bergamot by default. ☹️
Just pick Bergamot in preferences. Privacy is not about “trust by default”.
A Bergamot Translator is not the only feature about privacy in Linguist. Linguist protect your privacy by design and give you abilities that is unreachable in another extensions. Check a custom translators in Linguist, for example. Do you know any other extension who can do like that?
I mean, can you deploy machine translation on you local machine and then use this service with another browser extension for translation? As i know, there is no such features in other addons. When i implemented this feature, people told be “it’s just madness”. But with Linguist you can do it.
With Linguist - any translation service or LLM in universe will be served for you as translators. Linguist features will be grow, but all features will be based on translator you prefer in options.
Currently we work on images translations. Do you know how it implemented in most solutions? Addons just sent images from a pages to remote server, then use google translation and return it to you. Linguist will recognize text locally, then use translator you prefer, to translate text, and then re-draw image locally. So you still may sent text from image to internet, but even if you will try to translate your WhatsApp messages with sensitive content - nobody will see your cat, but only text from image may be compromised. If you will use offline translator, then even your text will be private.
This is too long story to explain it on every press release, but this is why Linguist is private, its really care about your privacy unlike other translators who just make money on your data.
Frankly, I disagree. If your submission here is titled “privacy focused offline”, it shouldn’t default to an online service.
I like the feature set and it’s a true value proposition on top of what e.g., Firefox has as a built-in default, privacy-focused offline translation. Custom dictionaries, learning, history and lookup. That’s all really cool. But Linguist shouldn’t call itself what it’s not.
Linguist is not an “offline translator”, it is full-featured translation solution.
The title of current post is “offline translation in your browser” that is true, if you can do 3 clicks.
The headline features you advertised are things that the program can technically do, but which it won’t do by default because it makes it work worse.
“Offline” means offline. If the first thing your translator does is reach out to the internet to talk to Google Translate, it’s not offline. Call it “offline-capable” if you want, that’s about the right level of weasel-words. The explanation of it on the website is perfectly reasonable.
Why not make Bergamot the default? People can always choose to use Google, but as @freddyb pointed out, using Google by default clashes a bit with the valuable privacy angle.
Good question, actually. This is trade off between privacy and available languages. Bergamot translator currently have not as much languages as Google Translator have.
Most users don’t care about offline translation, so translation extension that can’t translate Japanese to Hebrew not so good. So default is Google translator which have a lot of languages. But users who need offline translation, may change translator to Bergamot in 3 clicks.
When Bergamot will have enough languages directions, we will change default to Bergamot.
I understand you here, i felt the same. Actually, I have created a Linguist when i changed Chrome to Firefox, because Firefox did not have embedded translator at all, and another extensions looks not enough good.
Linguist uses Bergamot translator that is embedded in Firefox. But translation in Firefox in beta stage, it does not have a lot of features and does not support a lot of languages yet. Linguist is a full featured translator that supports a lot of translation modules and even custom translators provided by users. So Firefox translation is just a subset of features from Linguist, like Firefox ads protection is just a small subset of features from uBlock Origin.
But Firefox translator are technological breakthrough anyway, so we appreciate it.
Please note and follow https://lobste.rs/about#self-promo
Hi everyone. I’m launching Linguist Translate, an open-source, full-featured translation solution with an embedded offline translator based on the Bergamot Project created by Mozilla.
Site: https://linguister.io
GitHub: https://github.com/translate-tools/linguist
Today, Linguist is launched on ProductHunt. Support the project who really care about privacy: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/linguist-translate
Linguist is not just a wrapper over Google Translator like many other extensions. You can use any translation service with Linguist, thanks to custom translators! You may even deploy any machine translation (like LibreTranslate) on your localhost and then add this service to Linguist.
All features are included: text translation, full-page translation, selected text translation, Text-To-Speech, dictionary, history, and even more.
I just installed it and the default was Google Translate? You headline here is “privacy focussed offline translation”, which seemed to imply that it was using Bergamot by default. ☹️
Just pick Bergamot in preferences. Privacy is not about “trust by default”.
A Bergamot Translator is not the only feature about privacy in Linguist. Linguist protect your privacy by design and give you abilities that is unreachable in another extensions. Check a custom translators in Linguist, for example. Do you know any other extension who can do like that?
I mean, can you deploy machine translation on you local machine and then use this service with another browser extension for translation? As i know, there is no such features in other addons. When i implemented this feature, people told be “it’s just madness”. But with Linguist you can do it.
With Linguist - any translation service or LLM in universe will be served for you as translators. Linguist features will be grow, but all features will be based on translator you prefer in options.
Currently we work on images translations. Do you know how it implemented in most solutions? Addons just sent images from a pages to remote server, then use google translation and return it to you. Linguist will recognize text locally, then use translator you prefer, to translate text, and then re-draw image locally. So you still may sent text from image to internet, but even if you will try to translate your WhatsApp messages with sensitive content - nobody will see your cat, but only text from image may be compromised. If you will use offline translator, then even your text will be private.
This is too long story to explain it on every press release, but this is why Linguist is private, its really care about your privacy unlike other translators who just make money on your data.
Frankly, I disagree. If your submission here is titled “privacy focused offline”, it shouldn’t default to an online service.
I like the feature set and it’s a true value proposition on top of what e.g., Firefox has as a built-in default, privacy-focused offline translation. Custom dictionaries, learning, history and lookup. That’s all really cool. But Linguist shouldn’t call itself what it’s not.
Ok fellow, how we should rename a Linguist?
well, probably not “offline translator”
Linguist is not an “offline translator”, it is full-featured translation solution. The title of current post is “offline translation in your browser” that is true, if you can do 3 clicks.
Then don’t advertise it as “privacy-focussed, offline translation”.
Why?
Because it’s deceptive bullshit.
Why?
The headline features you advertised are things that the program can technically do, but which it won’t do by default because it makes it work worse.
“Offline” means offline. If the first thing your translator does is reach out to the internet to talk to Google Translate, it’s not offline. Call it “offline-capable” if you want, that’s about the right level of weasel-words. The explanation of it on the website is perfectly reasonable.
Why not make Bergamot the default? People can always choose to use Google, but as @freddyb pointed out, using Google by default clashes a bit with the valuable privacy angle.
Good question, actually. This is trade off between privacy and available languages. Bergamot translator currently have not as much languages as Google Translator have.
Most users don’t care about offline translation, so translation extension that can’t translate Japanese to Hebrew not so good. So default is Google translator which have a lot of languages. But users who need offline translation, may change translator to Bergamot in 3 clicks.
When Bergamot will have enough languages directions, we will change default to Bergamot.
Thanks for creating it! I’ve been using it for the past year and it’s been an amazing improvement over the awful translator Brave has built in.
Thank you for use a Linguist.
I understand you here, i felt the same. Actually, I have created a Linguist when i changed Chrome to Firefox, because Firefox did not have embedded translator at all, and another extensions looks not enough good.
Doesn’t firefox translation also do this?
Linguist uses Bergamot translator that is embedded in Firefox. But translation in Firefox in beta stage, it does not have a lot of features and does not support a lot of languages yet. Linguist is a full featured translator that supports a lot of translation modules and even custom translators provided by users. So Firefox translation is just a subset of features from Linguist, like Firefox ads protection is just a small subset of features from uBlock Origin.
But Firefox translator are technological breakthrough anyway, so we appreciate it.