1 # SOME DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
2 # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 # This file is distributed under the same license as the PACKAGE package.
4 # FIRST AUTHOR <EMAIL@ADDRESS>, YEAR.
9 "Project-Id-Version: PACKAGE VERSION\n"
10 "POT-Creation-Date: 2010-05-06 17:34-0400\n"
11 "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
12 "Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
13 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
15 "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\n"
16 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: ENCODING"
18 #. type: Content of: <chapter><title>
20 msgid "Internationalization and Translations"
23 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
26 "Debian supports an ever-increasing number of natural languages. Even if you "
27 "are a native English speaker and do not speak any other language, it is part "
28 "of your duty as a maintainer to be aware of issues of internationalization "
29 "(abbreviated i18n because there are 18 letters between the 'i' and the 'n' "
30 "in internationalization). Therefore, even if you are ok with English-only "
31 "programs, you should read most of this chapter."
34 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
37 "According to <ulink "
38 "url=\"http://&www-debian-org;/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/\">Introduction to "
39 "i18n</ulink> from Tomohiro KUBOTA, I18N (internationalization) means "
40 "modification of a software or related technologies so that a software can "
41 "potentially handle multiple languages, customs, and so on in the world, "
42 "while L10N (localization) means implementation of a specific language for an "
43 "already internationalized software."
46 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
49 "l10n and i18n are interconnected, but the difficulties related to each of "
50 "them are very different. It's not really difficult to allow a program to "
51 "change the language in which texts are displayed based on user settings, but "
52 "it is very time consuming to actually translate these messages. On the "
53 "other hand, setting the character encoding is trivial, but adapting the code "
54 "to use several character encodings is a really hard problem."
57 #. type: Content of: <chapter><para>
60 "Setting aside the i18n problems, where no general guideline can be given, "
61 "there is actually no central infrastructure for l10n within Debian which "
62 "could be compared to the buildd mechanism for porting. So most of the work "
63 "has to be done manually."
66 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
68 msgid "How translations are handled within Debian"
71 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
74 "Handling translation of the texts contained in a package is still a manual "
75 "task, and the process depends on the kind of text you want to see "
79 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
82 "For program messages, the gettext infrastructure is used most of the time. "
83 "Most of the time, the translation is handled upstream within projects like "
84 "the <ulink url=\"http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/\">Free "
85 "Translation Project</ulink>, the <ulink "
86 "url=\"http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gtp/\">Gnome translation "
87 "Project</ulink> or the <ulink url=\"http://i18n.kde.org/\">KDE one</ulink>. "
88 "The only centralized resource within Debian is the <ulink "
89 "url=\"http://&www-debian-org;/intl/l10n/\">Central Debian translation "
90 "statistics</ulink>, where you can find some statistics about the translation "
91 "files found in the actual packages, but no real infrastructure to ease the "
92 "translation process."
95 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
98 "An effort to translate the package descriptions started long ago, even if "
99 "very little support is offered by the tools to actually use them (i.e., only "
100 "APT can use them, when configured correctly). Maintainers don't need to do "
101 "anything special to support translated package descriptions; translators "
102 "should use the <ulink url=\"http://ddtp.debian.org/\">DDTP</ulink>."
105 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
108 "For debconf templates, maintainers should use the po-debconf package to ease "
109 "the work of translators, who could use the DDTP to do their work (but the "
110 "French and Brazilian teams don't). Some statistics can be found both on the "
111 "DDTP site (about what is actually translated), and on the <ulink "
112 "url=\"http://&www-debian-org;/intl/l10n/\">Central Debian translation "
113 "statistics</ulink> site (about what is integrated in the packages)."
116 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
119 "For web pages, each l10n team has access to the relevant CVS, and the "
120 "statistics are available from the Central Debian translation statistics "
124 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
127 "For general documentation about Debian, the process is more or less the same "
128 "as for the web pages (the translators have access to the CVS), but there are "
129 "no statistics pages."
132 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
135 "For package-specific documentation (man pages, info documents, other "
136 "formats), almost everything remains to be done."
139 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
142 "Most notably, the KDE project handles translation of its documentation in "
143 "the same way as its program messages."
146 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
149 "There is an effort to handle Debian-specific man pages within a <ulink "
150 "url=\"&url-cvsweb;manpages/?cvsroot=debian-doc\">specific CVS "
151 "repository</ulink>."
154 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
156 msgid "I18N & L10N FAQ for maintainers"
159 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
162 "This is a list of problems that maintainers may face concerning i18n and "
163 "l10n. While reading this, keep in mind that there is no real consensus on "
164 "these points within Debian, and that this is only advice. If you have a "
165 "better idea for a given problem, or if you disagree on some points, feel "
166 "free to provide your feedback, so that this document can be enhanced."
169 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
171 msgid "How to get a given text translated"
174 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
177 "To translate package descriptions or debconf templates, you have nothing to "
178 "do; the DDTP infrastructure will dispatch the material to translate to "
179 "volunteers with no need for interaction from your part."
182 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
185 "For all other material (gettext files, man pages, or other documentation), "
186 "the best solution is to put your text somewhere on the Internet, and ask on "
187 "debian-i18n for a translation in different languages. Some translation team "
188 "members are subscribed to this list, and they will take care of the "
189 "translation and of the reviewing process. Once they are done, you will get "
190 "your translated document from them in your mailbox."
193 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
195 msgid "How to get a given translation reviewed"
198 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
201 "From time to time, individuals translate some texts in your package and will "
202 "ask you for inclusion of the translation in the package. This can become "
203 "problematic if you are not fluent in the given language. It is a good idea "
204 "to send the document to the corresponding l10n mailing list, asking for a "
205 "review. Once it has been done, you should feel more confident in the "
206 "quality of the translation, and feel safe to include it in your package."
209 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
211 msgid "How to get a given translation updated"
214 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
217 "If you have some translations of a given text lying around, each time you "
218 "update the original, you should ask the previous translator to update the "
219 "translation with your new changes. Keep in mind that this task takes time; "
220 "at least one week to get the update reviewed and all."
223 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
226 "If the translator is unresponsive, you may ask for help on the corresponding "
227 "l10n mailing list. If everything fails, don't forget to put a warning in "
228 "the translated document, stating that the translation is somehow outdated, "
229 "and that the reader should refer to the original document if possible."
232 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
235 "Avoid removing a translation completely because it is outdated. Old "
236 "documentation is often better than no documentation at all for non-English "
240 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
242 msgid "How to handle a bug report concerning a translation"
245 #. TODO: add the i18n tag to the bug?
246 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
249 "The best solution may be to mark the bug as forwarded to upstream, and "
250 "forward it to both the previous translator and his/her team (using the "
251 "corresponding debian-l10n-XXX mailing list)."
254 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
256 msgid "I18N & L10N FAQ for translators"
259 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
262 "While reading this, please keep in mind that there is no general procedure "
263 "within Debian concerning these points, and that in any case, you should "
264 "collaborate with your team and the package maintainer."
267 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
269 msgid "How to help the translation effort"
272 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
275 "Choose what you want to translate, make sure that nobody is already working "
276 "on it (using your debian-l10n-XXX mailing list), translate it, get it "
277 "reviewed by other native speakers on your l10n mailing list, and provide it "
278 "to the maintainer of the package (see next point)."
281 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
283 msgid "How to provide a translation for inclusion in a package"
286 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
289 "Make sure your translation is correct (asking for review on your l10n "
290 "mailing list) before providing it for inclusion. It will save time for "
291 "everyone, and avoid the chaos resulting in having several versions of the "
292 "same document in bug reports."
295 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
298 "The best solution is to file a regular bug containing the translation "
299 "against the package. Make sure to use the 'PATCH' tag, and to not use a "
300 "severity higher than 'wishlist', since the lack of translation never "
301 "prevented a program from running."
304 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
306 msgid "Best current practice concerning l10n"
309 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
312 "As a maintainer, never edit the translations in any way (even to reformat "
313 "the layout) without asking on the corresponding l10n mailing list. You risk "
314 "for example breaksing the encoding of the file by doing so. Moreover, what "
315 "you consider an error can be right (or even needed) in the given language."
318 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
321 "As a translator, if you find an error in the original text, make sure to "
322 "report it. Translators are often the most attentive readers of a given "
323 "text, and if they don't report the errors they find, nobody will."
326 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
329 "In any case, remember that the major issue with l10n is that it requires "
330 "several people to cooperate, and that it is very easy to start a flamewar "
331 "about small problems because of misunderstandings. So if you have problems "
332 "with your interlocutor, ask for help on the corresponding l10n mailing list, "
333 "on debian-i18n, or even on debian-devel (but beware, l10n discussions very "
334 "often become flamewars on that list :)"
337 #. type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
340 "In any case, cooperation can only be achieved with <emphasis "
341 "role=\"strong\">mutual respect</emphasis>."