Uneasy Rhetoric

At the beginning of the month, Microsoft announced Welsh language versions of Windows XP and Office. From the story:

Welcoming the software, Welsh Language Minister Alun Pugh, said: “The launch of Windows and Office 2003 in Welsh marks a real milestone for the language and fits in well with the Welsh Assembly Government’s vision for a bilingual Wales.

OpenOffice.org is also working on a Welsh language version of its software (in fact, according to the interview, they shared information with Microsoft). What is interesting to me is what Rhoslyn Prys, Welsh Language Project Lead, said when asked about what could make OpenOffice better for Welsh speakers:

Wales is a bilingual country, and very few organizations have 100% Welsh speakers. Therefore it’s not ideal having to install two separate copies of OpenOffice.org, one for English and one for Welsh. … Ideally, in the long run, we’d like to switch between English and Welsh at the click of a button, without restarting OpenOffice.org. Then, if a Welsh speaker has a problem, English-speaking technical support staff can come over, click to change the language, and deal with the problem. This will be useful in the US Spanish > English, too.

I can’t decide if this is a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, it would encourage speakers of minority languages to keep their language. On the other hand, it does nothing to encourage others to learn them.

(For the record, I used to have a cursory reading knowledge of Welsh, but it atrophied from lack of use)