1 # SOME DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
2 # Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
9 "Project-Id-Version: PACKAGE VERSION\n"
10 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
11 "POT-Creation-Date: 2008-08-08 11:36-0300\n"
12 "PO-Revision-Date: 2007-07-01 23:14+0000\n"
13 "Last-Translator: <>\n"
16 "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
17 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: \n"
19 # type: Content of: <chapter><title>
22 "Internationalizing, translating, being internationalized and being translated"
24 "Internationalisation, traduction, être internationalisé et être traduit"
26 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
29 "Debian supports an ever-increasing number of natural languages. Even if you "
30 "are a native English speaker and do not speak any other language, it is part "
31 "of your duty as a maintainer to be aware of issues of internationalization "
32 "(abbreviated i18n because there are 18 letters between the 'i' and the 'n' "
33 "in internationalization). Therefore, even if you are ok with English-only "
34 "programs, you should read most of this chapter."
37 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
41 "According to <ulink url=\"http://&www-debian-org;/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/"
42 "\">Introduction to i18n</ulink> from Tomohiro KUBOTA, I18N "
43 "(internationalization) means modification of a software or related "
44 "technologies so that a software can potentially handle multiple languages, "
45 "customs, and so on in the world, while L10N (localization) means "
46 "implementation of a specific language for an already internationalized "
49 "Selon l'<ulink url=\"http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/"
50 "\">introduction à l'i18n</ulink> de Tomohiro KUBOTA, «I18N"
51 "(internationalisation) veut dire la modification d'un logiciel ou "
52 "detechnologies liées pour qu'un logiciel puisse potentiellement gérer "
53 "deslangues multiples, des conventions multiples et ainsi de suite dans "
54 "lemonde entier» alors que «L10N (localisation) veut direl'implémentation dans "
55 "une langue spécifique pour un logiciel déjàinternationalisé»."
57 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
60 "l10n and i18n are interconnected, but the difficulties related to each of "
61 "them are very different. It's not really difficult to allow a program to "
62 "change the language in which texts are displayed based on user settings, but "
63 "it is very time consuming to actually translate these messages. On the "
64 "other hand, setting the character encoding is trivial, but adapting the code "
65 "to use several character encodings is a really hard problem."
68 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
71 "Setting aside the i18n problems, where no general guideline can be given, "
72 "there is actually no central infrastructure for l10n within Debian which "
73 "could be compared to the buildd mechanism for porting. So most of the work "
74 "has to be done manually."
77 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
79 msgid "How translations are handled within Debian"
82 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
85 "Handling translation of the texts contained in a package is still a manual "
86 "task, and the process depends on the kind of text you want to see translated."
89 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
92 "For program messages, the gettext infrastructure is used most of the time. "
93 "Most of the time, the translation is handled upstream within projects like "
94 "the <ulink url=\"http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/\">Free "
95 "Translation Project</ulink>, the <ulink url=\"http://developer.gnome.org/"
96 "projects/gtp/\">Gnome translation Project</ulink> or the <ulink url=\"http://"
97 "i18n.kde.org/\">KDE one</ulink>. The only centralized resource within "
98 "Debian is the <ulink url=\"http://&www-debian-org;/intl/l10n/\">Central "
99 "Debian translation statistics</ulink>, where you can find some statistics "
100 "about the translation files found in the actual packages, but no real "
101 "infrastructure to ease the translation process."
104 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
107 "An effort to translate the package descriptions started long ago, even if "
108 "very little support is offered by the tools to actually use them (i.e., only "
109 "APT can use them, when configured correctly). Maintainers don't need to do "
110 "anything special to support translated package descriptions; translators "
111 "should use the <ulink url=\"http://ddtp.debian.org/\">DDTP</ulink>."
114 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
117 "For debconf templates, maintainers should use the po-debconf package to ease "
118 "the work of translators, who could use the DDTP to do their work (but the "
119 "French and Brazilian teams don't). Some statistics can be found both on the "
120 "DDTP site (about what is actually translated), and on the <ulink url="
121 "\"http://&www-debian-org;/intl/l10n/\">Central Debian translation "
122 "statistics</ulink> site (about what is integrated in the packages)."
125 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
128 "For web pages, each l10n team has access to the relevant CVS, and the "
129 "statistics are available from the Central Debian translation statistics site."
132 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
135 "For general documentation about Debian, the process is more or less the same "
136 "as for the web pages (the translators have access to the CVS), but there are "
137 "no statistics pages."
140 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
143 "For package-specific documentation (man pages, info documents, other "
144 "formats), almost everything remains to be done."
147 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
150 "Most notably, the KDE project handles translation of its documentation in "
151 "the same way as its program messages."
154 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
157 "There is an effort to handle Debian-specific man pages within a <ulink url="
158 "\"&url-cvsweb;manpages/?cvsroot=debian-doc\">specific CVS repository</ulink>."
161 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
163 msgid "I18N & L10N FAQ for maintainers"
166 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
169 "This is a list of problems that maintainers may face concerning i18n and "
170 "l10n. While reading this, keep in mind that there is no real consensus on "
171 "these points within Debian, and that this is only advice. If you have a "
172 "better idea for a given problem, or if you disagree on some points, feel "
173 "free to provide your feedback, so that this document can be enhanced."
176 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
178 msgid "How to get a given text translated"
181 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
184 "To translate package descriptions or debconf templates, you have nothing to "
185 "do; the DDTP infrastructure will dispatch the material to translate to "
186 "volunteers with no need for interaction from your part."
189 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
192 "For all other material (gettext files, man pages, or other documentation), "
193 "the best solution is to put your text somewhere on the Internet, and ask on "
194 "debian-i18n for a translation in different languages. Some translation team "
195 "members are subscribed to this list, and they will take care of the "
196 "translation and of the reviewing process. Once they are done, you will get "
197 "your translated document from them in your mailbox."
200 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
202 msgid "How to get a given translation reviewed"
205 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
208 "From time to time, individuals translate some texts in your package and will "
209 "ask you for inclusion of the translation in the package. This can become "
210 "problematic if you are not fluent in the given language. It is a good idea "
211 "to send the document to the corresponding l10n mailing list, asking for a "
212 "review. Once it has been done, you should feel more confident in the "
213 "quality of the translation, and feel safe to include it in your package."
216 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
218 msgid "How to get a given translation updated"
221 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
224 "If you have some translations of a given text lying around, each time you "
225 "update the original, you should ask the previous translator to update the "
226 "translation with your new changes. Keep in mind that this task takes time; "
227 "at least one week to get the update reviewed and all."
230 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
233 "If the translator is unresponsive, you may ask for help on the corresponding "
234 "l10n mailing list. If everything fails, don't forget to put a warning in "
235 "the translated document, stating that the translation is somehow outdated, "
236 "and that the reader should refer to the original document if possible."
239 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
242 "Avoid removing a translation completely because it is outdated. Old "
243 "documentation is often better than no documentation at all for non-English "
247 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
249 msgid "How to handle a bug report concerning a translation"
252 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
253 #. TODO: add the i18n tag to the bug?
256 "The best solution may be to mark the bug as forwarded to upstream, and "
257 "forward it to both the previous translator and his/her team (using the "
258 "corresponding debian-l10n-XXX mailing list)."
261 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
263 msgid "I18N & L10N FAQ for translators"
266 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
269 "While reading this, please keep in mind that there is no general procedure "
270 "within Debian concerning these points, and that in any case, you should "
271 "collaborate with your team and the package maintainer."
274 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
276 msgid "How to help the translation effort"
279 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
282 "Choose what you want to translate, make sure that nobody is already working "
283 "on it (using your debian-l10n-XXX mailing list), translate it, get it "
284 "reviewed by other native speakers on your l10n mailing list, and provide it "
285 "to the maintainer of the package (see next point)."
288 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
290 msgid "How to provide a translation for inclusion in a package"
293 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
296 "Make sure your translation is correct (asking for review on your l10n "
297 "mailing list) before providing it for inclusion. It will save time for "
298 "everyone, and avoid the chaos resulting in having several versions of the "
299 "same document in bug reports."
302 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
305 "The best solution is to file a regular bug containing the translation "
306 "against the package. Make sure to use the 'PATCH' tag, and to not use a "
307 "severity higher than 'wishlist', since the lack of translation never "
308 "prevented a program from running."
311 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
313 msgid "Best current practice concerning l10n"
316 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
319 "As a maintainer, never edit the translations in any way (even to reformat "
320 "the layout) without asking on the corresponding l10n mailing list. You risk "
321 "for example breaksing the encoding of the file by doing so. Moreover, what "
322 "you consider an error can be right (or even needed) in the given language."
325 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
328 "As a translator, if you find an error in the original text, make sure to "
329 "report it. Translators are often the most attentive readers of a given "
330 "text, and if they don't report the errors they find, nobody will."
333 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
336 "In any case, remember that the major issue with l10n is that it requires "
337 "several people to cooperate, and that it is very easy to start a flamewar "
338 "about small problems because of misunderstandings. So if you have problems "
339 "with your interlocutor, ask for help on the corresponding l10n mailing list, "
340 "on debian-i18n, or even on debian-devel (but beware, l10n discussions very "
341 "often become flamewars on that list :)"
344 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
347 "In any case, cooperation can only be achieved with <emphasis role=\"strong"
348 "\">mutual respect</emphasis>."