sinhala unicode for ubuntu

Unfortunately the Sinhala font was first added to Ubuntu 8.10 and is
unavailable in the Ubuntu 8.04:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=ttf-sinhala-lklug

Your options are:

A) Upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10 or newer version of Ubuntu and then follow the
instructions at: http://sinhala.sourceforge.net/

B) Download the ttf-sinhala-lklug deb package from Ubuntu 8.10 and
install it on Ubuntu 8.04. Then follow the rest of the instructions at:
http://sinhala.sourceforge.net/


then run this command in terminal

sudo apt-get install scim scim-gtk2-immodule im-switch scim-m17n m17n-db
m17n-contrib language-pack-si-base

From your user account (i.e. not root) run:

rm -f ~/.xinput.d/* ; im-switch -z all_ALL -s scim-immodule

Logout and login again. Environment variables need to be set/updated (NO NEED TO REBOOT)

How to test

1. Visit si.wikipedia.org and see if the Sinhala letters render correctly.

2. Copy and paste some of the content from Sinhala Wikipedia to Open Office Writer. Then highlight the Sinhala text and choose the LKLUG font to display them.

3. To test typing, press Control-space whilst you are running a GNOME application. Then select one of the Sinhala input methods.