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: 2010-05-27 11:15-0400\n"
12 "PO-Revision-Date: 2010-03-29 23:05+0200\n"
13 "Last-Translator: <>\n"
17 "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
18 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: \n"
20 #. type: Content of: <chapter><title>
22 msgid "Internationalization and Translations"
25 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
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>
38 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
42 "According to <ulink url=\"http://&www-debian-org;/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/"
43 "\">Introduction to i18n</ulink> from Tomohiro KUBOTA, I18N "
44 "(internationalization) means modification of a software or related "
45 "technologies so that a software can potentially handle multiple languages, "
46 "customs, and so on in the world, while L10N (localization) means "
47 "implementation of a specific language for an already internationalized "
50 "Selon l'<ulink url=\"http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/"
51 "\">introduction à l'i18n</ulink> de Tomohiro KUBOTA, «I18N"
52 "(internationalisation) veut dire la modification d'un logiciel ou de "
53 "technologies liées pour qu'un logiciel puisse potentiellement gérer des "
54 "langues multiples, des conventions multiples et ainsi de suite dans le monde "
55 "entier» alors que «L10N (localisation) veut dire l'implémentation dans une "
56 "langue spécifique pour un logiciel déjà internationalisé»."
58 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
59 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
62 "l10n and i18n are interconnected, but the difficulties related to each of "
63 "them are very different. It's not really difficult to allow a program to "
64 "change the language in which texts are displayed based on user settings, but "
65 "it is very time consuming to actually translate these messages. On the "
66 "other hand, setting the character encoding is trivial, but adapting the code "
67 "to use several character encodings is a really hard problem."
70 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
71 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
74 "Setting aside the i18n problems, where no general guideline can be given, "
75 "there is actually no central infrastructure for l10n within Debian which "
76 "could be compared to the buildd mechanism for porting. So most of the work "
77 "has to be done manually."
80 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
81 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
83 msgid "How translations are handled within Debian"
86 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
87 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
90 "Handling translation of the texts contained in a package is still a manual "
91 "task, and the process depends on the kind of text you want to see translated."
94 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
95 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
98 "For program messages, the gettext infrastructure is used most of the time. "
99 "Most of the time, the translation is handled upstream within projects like "
100 "the <ulink url=\"http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/\">Free "
101 "Translation Project</ulink>, the <ulink url=\"http://developer.gnome.org/"
102 "projects/gtp/\">Gnome translation Project</ulink> or the <ulink url=\"http://"
103 "i18n.kde.org/\">KDE one</ulink>. The only centralized resource within "
104 "Debian is the <ulink url=\"http://&www-debian-org;/intl/l10n/\">Central "
105 "Debian translation statistics</ulink>, where you can find some statistics "
106 "about the translation files found in the actual packages, but no real "
107 "infrastructure to ease the translation process."
110 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
111 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
114 "An effort to translate the package descriptions started long ago, even if "
115 "very little support is offered by the tools to actually use them (i.e., only "
116 "APT can use them, when configured correctly). Maintainers don't need to do "
117 "anything special to support translated package descriptions; translators "
118 "should use the <ulink url=\"http://ddtp.debian.org/\">DDTP</ulink>."
121 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
122 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
125 "For debconf templates, maintainers should use the po-debconf package to ease "
126 "the work of translators, who could use the DDTP to do their work (but the "
127 "French and Brazilian teams don't). Some statistics can be found both on the "
128 "DDTP site (about what is actually translated), and on the <ulink url="
129 "\"http://&www-debian-org;/intl/l10n/\">Central Debian translation "
130 "statistics</ulink> site (about what is integrated in the packages)."
133 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
134 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
137 "For web pages, each l10n team has access to the relevant CVS, and the "
138 "statistics are available from the Central Debian translation statistics site."
141 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
142 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
145 "For general documentation about Debian, the process is more or less the same "
146 "as for the web pages (the translators have access to the CVS), but there are "
147 "no statistics pages."
150 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
151 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
154 "For package-specific documentation (man pages, info documents, other "
155 "formats), almost everything remains to be done."
158 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
159 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
162 "Most notably, the KDE project handles translation of its documentation in "
163 "the same way as its program messages."
166 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
167 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
170 "There is an effort to handle Debian-specific man pages within a <ulink url="
171 "\"&url-cvsweb;manpages/?cvsroot=debian-doc\">specific CVS repository</ulink>."
174 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
175 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
177 msgid "I18N & L10N FAQ for maintainers"
180 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
181 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
184 "This is a list of problems that maintainers may face concerning i18n and "
185 "l10n. While reading this, keep in mind that there is no real consensus on "
186 "these points within Debian, and that this is only advice. If you have a "
187 "better idea for a given problem, or if you disagree on some points, feel "
188 "free to provide your feedback, so that this document can be enhanced."
191 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
192 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
194 msgid "How to get a given text translated"
197 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
198 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
201 "To translate package descriptions or debconf templates, you have nothing to "
202 "do; the DDTP infrastructure will dispatch the material to translate to "
203 "volunteers with no need for interaction from your part."
206 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
207 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
210 "For all other material (gettext files, man pages, or other documentation), "
211 "the best solution is to put your text somewhere on the Internet, and ask on "
212 "debian-i18n for a translation in different languages. Some translation team "
213 "members are subscribed to this list, and they will take care of the "
214 "translation and of the reviewing process. Once they are done, you will get "
215 "your translated document from them in your mailbox."
218 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
219 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
221 msgid "How to get a given translation reviewed"
224 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
225 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
228 "From time to time, individuals translate some texts in your package and will "
229 "ask you for inclusion of the translation in the package. This can become "
230 "problematic if you are not fluent in the given language. It is a good idea "
231 "to send the document to the corresponding l10n mailing list, asking for a "
232 "review. Once it has been done, you should feel more confident in the "
233 "quality of the translation, and feel safe to include it in your package."
236 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
237 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
239 msgid "How to get a given translation updated"
242 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
243 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
246 "If you have some translations of a given text lying around, each time you "
247 "update the original, you should ask the previous translator to update the "
248 "translation with your new changes. Keep in mind that this task takes time; "
249 "at least one week to get the update reviewed and all."
252 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
253 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
256 "If the translator is unresponsive, you may ask for help on the corresponding "
257 "l10n mailing list. If everything fails, don't forget to put a warning in "
258 "the translated document, stating that the translation is somehow outdated, "
259 "and that the reader should refer to the original document if possible."
262 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
263 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
266 "Avoid removing a translation completely because it is outdated. Old "
267 "documentation is often better than no documentation at all for non-English "
271 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
272 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
274 msgid "How to handle a bug report concerning a translation"
277 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
278 #. TODO: add the i18n tag to the bug?
279 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
282 "The best solution may be to mark the bug as forwarded to upstream, and "
283 "forward it to both the previous translator and his/her team (using the "
284 "corresponding debian-l10n-XXX mailing list)."
287 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
288 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
290 msgid "I18N & L10N FAQ for translators"
293 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
294 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
297 "While reading this, please keep in mind that there is no general procedure "
298 "within Debian concerning these points, and that in any case, you should "
299 "collaborate with your team and the package maintainer."
302 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
303 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
305 msgid "How to help the translation effort"
308 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
309 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
312 "Choose what you want to translate, make sure that nobody is already working "
313 "on it (using your debian-l10n-XXX mailing list), translate it, get it "
314 "reviewed by other native speakers on your l10n mailing list, and provide it "
315 "to the maintainer of the package (see next point)."
318 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
319 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
321 msgid "How to provide a translation for inclusion in a package"
324 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
325 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
328 "Make sure your translation is correct (asking for review on your l10n "
329 "mailing list) before providing it for inclusion. It will save time for "
330 "everyone, and avoid the chaos resulting in having several versions of the "
331 "same document in bug reports."
334 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
335 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
338 "The best solution is to file a regular bug containing the translation "
339 "against the package. Make sure to use the 'PATCH' tag, and to not use a "
340 "severity higher than 'wishlist', since the lack of translation never "
341 "prevented a program from running."
344 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
345 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
347 msgid "Best current practice concerning l10n"
350 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
351 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
354 "As a maintainer, never edit the translations in any way (even to reformat "
355 "the layout) without asking on the corresponding l10n mailing list. You risk "
356 "for example breaksing the encoding of the file by doing so. Moreover, what "
357 "you consider an error can be right (or even needed) in the given language."
360 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
361 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
364 "As a translator, if you find an error in the original text, make sure to "
365 "report it. Translators are often the most attentive readers of a given "
366 "text, and if they don't report the errors they find, nobody will."
369 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
370 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
373 "In any case, remember that the major issue with l10n is that it requires "
374 "several people to cooperate, and that it is very easy to start a flamewar "
375 "about small problems because of misunderstandings. So if you have problems "
376 "with your interlocutor, ask for help on the corresponding l10n mailing list, "
377 "on debian-i18n, or even on debian-devel (but beware, l10n discussions very "
378 "often become flamewars on that list :)"
381 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
382 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
385 "In any case, cooperation can only be achieved with <emphasis role=\"strong"
386 "\">mutual respect</emphasis>."
389 # type: Content of: <chapter><title>
391 #~ "Internationalizing, translating, being internationalized and being "
394 #~ "Internationalisation, traduction, être internationalisé et être traduit"