arabic.computer

What it is

arabic.computer is a public archive of the history of Arabic in computing. It is not a picture museum; it is a record of technical decisions: how characters were represented, drawn, typed, and finally displayed.

Why it matters

Every technical decision made decades ago is still present in the keyboard we use, the typefaces we read, and the way search engines look for our words. When we know who made those decisions and why, we become able to make different ones.

What it covers

• Encoding: from limited character sets to Unicode, and from lost letters to duplicated ones.
• Typography: typefaces, glyphs, joining, and direction.
• Input: keyboards, layouts, and the history of QWERTY in the Arab world.
• Systems: localization, operating systems, and local software.
• The web: content, direction, search, and indexing.
• AI: how Arabic is processed today, and where the mistakes of the past repeat.

Status

The archive is live and grows in stages. Contributions, corrections, and rare documents are welcome — every addition will be documented.