The J-Ben software itself is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2, which allows free use of the program and allows modifications to the program with some restrictions. Read the license for full information. However, various files used by J-Ben are under separate licenses:
The dictionary files are property of Monash University. Their license is here.
Use of J-Ben implies agreement to the above licenses. If you do not agree to the above, do not use the software.
In addition, if you wish to use the kanji stroke order diagrams, then the following also applies:
The kanji stroke order diagrams are distributed under the SODER project's license. They cannot be reused without permission from the copyright holder.
Finally: J-Ben is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
Back to topWindows Users:
Linux Users: Download the latest source tarball below and decompress it somewhere on your computer. Then, in the source directory, type "make", followed by "make install". The makefile supports custom installation prefixes, so you can do "make prefix=/usr" and "make prefix=/usr install" to install files based on /usr instead of the default /usr/local. J-Ben depends on GTK+ 2/GTKmm and a recent copy of the Boost C++ libraries, so make sure you have the appropriate development packages for these set up before trying to build the program from source.
All Users: J-Ben supports Kanji stroke order diagrams. However, I did not create these; they are from KanjiCafe.com and are distributed under their own license. They are not included in the software, but are HIGHLY recommended. Be sure to download a set of these along with the program. After installing the program, unzip the diagrams into the "sods" subfolder of J-Ben.
Back to topCurrent Version: 1.2.0
Dedication: This version of J-Ben is dedicated to Mr. Toshiki Kumakura, my former Japanese instructor, and to the students of Aviation High School where he currently teaches. I hope this tool may be useful to them.
J-Ben Files for 1.2.0, Windows
Jim Rose's Kanji Stroke Order Diagrams (from KanjiCafe.com)
Third Public Release (1513 kanji included)
J-Ben Source Code for 1.2.0
(including source for documentation, "make doc" on Linux from the "src" folder)
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Back to topWindows specific: There are some graphical glitches which may occur if you drag other windows over J-Ben. As far as I know this is an issue with GTK+ on Windows. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.
Back to topA basic instruction manual is now available for J-Ben. It goes into a little more detail than the rest of the web site about how to set up and use the program. J-Ben is fairly easy to use, but if you want to get the most out of the program, you may want to grab a copy or read it online.
Latest documentation version: 1.2.0
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