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: 2010-05-06 17:29-0400\n"
12 "PO-Revision-Date: 2010-03-29 23:05+0200\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>
21 msgid "Internationalization and Translations"
24 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
25 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
28 "Debian supports an ever-increasing number of natural languages. Even if you "
29 "are a native English speaker and do not speak any other language, it is part "
30 "of your duty as a maintainer to be aware of issues of internationalization "
31 "(abbreviated i18n because there are 18 letters between the 'i' and the 'n' "
32 "in internationalization). Therefore, even if you are ok with English-only "
33 "programs, you should read most of this chapter."
36 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
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 de "
52 "technologies liées pour qu'un logiciel puisse potentiellement gérer des "
53 "langues multiples, des conventions multiples et ainsi de suite dans le monde "
54 "entier» alors que «L10N (localisation) veut dire l'implémentation dans une "
55 "langue spécifique pour un logiciel déjà internationalisé»."
57 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
58 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
61 "l10n and i18n are interconnected, but the difficulties related to each of "
62 "them are very different. It's not really difficult to allow a program to "
63 "change the language in which texts are displayed based on user settings, but "
64 "it is very time consuming to actually translate these messages. On the "
65 "other hand, setting the character encoding is trivial, but adapting the code "
66 "to use several character encodings is a really hard problem."
69 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
70 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
73 "Setting aside the i18n problems, where no general guideline can be given, "
74 "there is actually no central infrastructure for l10n within Debian which "
75 "could be compared to the buildd mechanism for porting. So most of the work "
76 "has to be done manually."
79 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
80 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
82 msgid "How translations are handled within Debian"
85 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
86 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
89 "Handling translation of the texts contained in a package is still a manual "
90 "task, and the process depends on the kind of text you want to see translated."
93 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
94 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
97 "For program messages, the gettext infrastructure is used most of the time. "
98 "Most of the time, the translation is handled upstream within projects like "
99 "the <ulink url=\"http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/\">Free "
100 "Translation Project</ulink>, the <ulink url=\"http://developer.gnome.org/"
101 "projects/gtp/\">Gnome translation Project</ulink> or the <ulink url=\"http://"
102 "i18n.kde.org/\">KDE one</ulink>. The only centralized resource within "
103 "Debian is the <ulink url=\"http://&www-debian-org;/intl/l10n/\">Central "
104 "Debian translation statistics</ulink>, where you can find some statistics "
105 "about the translation files found in the actual packages, but no real "
106 "infrastructure to ease the translation process."
109 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
110 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
113 "An effort to translate the package descriptions started long ago, even if "
114 "very little support is offered by the tools to actually use them (i.e., only "
115 "APT can use them, when configured correctly). Maintainers don't need to do "
116 "anything special to support translated package descriptions; translators "
117 "should use the <ulink url=\"http://ddtp.debian.org/\">DDTP</ulink>."
120 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
121 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
124 "For debconf templates, maintainers should use the po-debconf package to ease "
125 "the work of translators, who could use the DDTP to do their work (but the "
126 "French and Brazilian teams don't). Some statistics can be found both on the "
127 "DDTP site (about what is actually translated), and on the <ulink url="
128 "\"http://&www-debian-org;/intl/l10n/\">Central Debian translation "
129 "statistics</ulink> site (about what is integrated in the packages)."
132 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
133 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
136 "For web pages, each l10n team has access to the relevant CVS, and the "
137 "statistics are available from the Central Debian translation statistics site."
140 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
141 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
144 "For general documentation about Debian, the process is more or less the same "
145 "as for the web pages (the translators have access to the CVS), but there are "
146 "no statistics pages."
149 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
150 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
153 "For package-specific documentation (man pages, info documents, other "
154 "formats), almost everything remains to be done."
157 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
158 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
161 "Most notably, the KDE project handles translation of its documentation in "
162 "the same way as its program messages."
165 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
166 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
169 "There is an effort to handle Debian-specific man pages within a <ulink url="
170 "\"&url-cvsweb;manpages/?cvsroot=debian-doc\">specific CVS repository</ulink>."
173 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
174 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
176 msgid "I18N & L10N FAQ for maintainers"
179 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
180 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
183 "This is a list of problems that maintainers may face concerning i18n and "
184 "l10n. While reading this, keep in mind that there is no real consensus on "
185 "these points within Debian, and that this is only advice. If you have a "
186 "better idea for a given problem, or if you disagree on some points, feel "
187 "free to provide your feedback, so that this document can be enhanced."
190 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
191 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
193 msgid "How to get a given text translated"
196 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
197 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
200 "To translate package descriptions or debconf templates, you have nothing to "
201 "do; the DDTP infrastructure will dispatch the material to translate to "
202 "volunteers with no need for interaction from your part."
205 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
206 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
209 "For all other material (gettext files, man pages, or other documentation), "
210 "the best solution is to put your text somewhere on the Internet, and ask on "
211 "debian-i18n for a translation in different languages. Some translation team "
212 "members are subscribed to this list, and they will take care of the "
213 "translation and of the reviewing process. Once they are done, you will get "
214 "your translated document from them in your mailbox."
217 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
218 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
220 msgid "How to get a given translation reviewed"
223 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
224 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
227 "From time to time, individuals translate some texts in your package and will "
228 "ask you for inclusion of the translation in the package. This can become "
229 "problematic if you are not fluent in the given language. It is a good idea "
230 "to send the document to the corresponding l10n mailing list, asking for a "
231 "review. Once it has been done, you should feel more confident in the "
232 "quality of the translation, and feel safe to include it in your package."
235 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
236 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
238 msgid "How to get a given translation updated"
241 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
242 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
245 "If you have some translations of a given text lying around, each time you "
246 "update the original, you should ask the previous translator to update the "
247 "translation with your new changes. Keep in mind that this task takes time; "
248 "at least one week to get the update reviewed and all."
251 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
252 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
255 "If the translator is unresponsive, you may ask for help on the corresponding "
256 "l10n mailing list. If everything fails, don't forget to put a warning in "
257 "the translated document, stating that the translation is somehow outdated, "
258 "and that the reader should refer to the original document if possible."
261 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
262 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
265 "Avoid removing a translation completely because it is outdated. Old "
266 "documentation is often better than no documentation at all for non-English "
270 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
271 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
273 msgid "How to handle a bug report concerning a translation"
276 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
277 #. TODO: add the i18n tag to the bug?
278 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
281 "The best solution may be to mark the bug as forwarded to upstream, and "
282 "forward it to both the previous translator and his/her team (using the "
283 "corresponding debian-l10n-XXX mailing list)."
286 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
287 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
289 msgid "I18N & L10N FAQ for translators"
292 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
293 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
296 "While reading this, please keep in mind that there is no general procedure "
297 "within Debian concerning these points, and that in any case, you should "
298 "collaborate with your team and the package maintainer."
301 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
302 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
304 msgid "How to help the translation effort"
307 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
308 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
311 "Choose what you want to translate, make sure that nobody is already working "
312 "on it (using your debian-l10n-XXX mailing list), translate it, get it "
313 "reviewed by other native speakers on your l10n mailing list, and provide it "
314 "to the maintainer of the package (see next point)."
317 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
318 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
320 msgid "How to provide a translation for inclusion in a package"
323 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
324 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
327 "Make sure your translation is correct (asking for review on your l10n "
328 "mailing list) before providing it for inclusion. It will save time for "
329 "everyone, and avoid the chaos resulting in having several versions of the "
330 "same document in bug reports."
333 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
334 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
337 "The best solution is to file a regular bug containing the translation "
338 "against the package. Make sure to use the 'PATCH' tag, and to not use a "
339 "severity higher than 'wishlist', since the lack of translation never "
340 "prevented a program from running."
343 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
344 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
346 msgid "Best current practice concerning l10n"
349 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
350 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
353 "As a maintainer, never edit the translations in any way (even to reformat "
354 "the layout) without asking on the corresponding l10n mailing list. You risk "
355 "for example breaksing the encoding of the file by doing so. Moreover, what "
356 "you consider an error can be right (or even needed) in the given language."
359 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
360 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
363 "As a translator, if you find an error in the original text, make sure to "
364 "report it. Translators are often the most attentive readers of a given "
365 "text, and if they don't report the errors they find, nobody will."
368 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
369 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
372 "In any case, remember that the major issue with l10n is that it requires "
373 "several people to cooperate, and that it is very easy to start a flamewar "
374 "about small problems because of misunderstandings. So if you have problems "
375 "with your interlocutor, ask for help on the corresponding l10n mailing list, "
376 "on debian-i18n, or even on debian-devel (but beware, l10n discussions very "
377 "often become flamewars on that list :)"
380 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
381 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
384 "In any case, cooperation can only be achieved with <emphasis role=\"strong"
385 "\">mutual respect</emphasis>."
388 # type: Content of: <chapter><title>
390 #~ "Internationalizing, translating, being internationalized and being "
393 #~ "Internationalisation, traduction, être internationalisé et être traduit"