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| author | Tomasz Mon <desowin@gmail.com> |
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| date | Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:16:38 +0200 |
| parents | cb178e5ad177 |
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Notes on the Free Translation Project ************************************* Free software is going international! The Free Translation Project is a way to get maintainers of free software, translators, and users all together, so that will gradually become able to speak many languages. A few packages already provide translations for their messages. If you found this `ABOUT-NLS' file inside a distribution, you may assume that the distributed package does use GNU `gettext' internally, itself available at your nearest GNU archive site. But you do _not_ need to install GNU `gettext' prior to configuring, installing or using this package with messages translated. Installers will find here some useful hints. These notes also explain how users should proceed for getting the programs to use the available translations. They tell how people wanting to contribute and work at translations should contact the appropriate team. When reporting bugs in the `intl/' directory or bugs which may be related to internationalization, you should tell about the version of `gettext' which is used. The information can be found in the `intl/VERSION' file, in internationalized packages. Quick configuration advice ========================== If you want to exploit the full power of internationalization, you should configure it using ./configure --with-included-gettext to force usage of internationalizing routines provided within this package, despite the existence of internationalizing capabilities in the operating system where this package is being installed. So far, only the `gettext' implementation in the GNU C library version 2 provides as many features (such as locale alias, message inheritance, automatic charset conversion or plural form handling) as the implementation here. It is also not possible to offer this additional functionality on top of a `catgets' implementation. Future versions of GNU `gettext' will very likely convey even more functionality. So it might be a good idea to change to GNU `gettext' as soon as possible. So you need _not_ provide this option if you are using GNU libc 2 or you have installed a recent copy of the GNU gettext package with the included `libintl'. INSTALL Matters =============== Some packages are "localizable" when properly installed; the programs they contain can be made to speak your own native language. Most such packages use GNU `gettext'. Other packages have their own ways to internationalization, predating GNU `gettext'. By default, this package will be installed to allow translation of messages. It will automatically detect whether the system already provides the GNU `gettext' functions. If not, the GNU `gettext' own library will be used. This library is wholly contained within this package, usually in the `intl/' subdirectory, so prior installation of the GNU `gettext' package is _not_ required. Installers may use special options at configuration time for changing the default behaviour. The commands: ./configure --with-included-gettext ./configure --disable-nls will respectively bypass any pre-existing `gettext' to use the internationalizing routines provided within this package, or else, _totally_ disable translation of messages. When you already have GNU `gettext' installed on your system and run configure without an option for your new package, `configure' will probably detect the previously built and installed `libintl.a' file and will decide to use this. This might be not what is desirable. You should use the more recent version of the GNU `gettext' library. I.e. if the file `intl/VERSION' shows that the library which comes with this package is more recent, you should use ./configure --with-included-gettext to prevent auto-detection. The configuration process will not test for the `catgets' function and therefore it will not be used. The reason is that even an emulation of `gettext' on top of `catgets' could not provide all the extensions of the GNU `gettext' library. Internationalized packages have usually many `po/LL.po' files, where LL gives an ISO 639 two-letter code identifying the language. Unless translations have been forbidden at `configure' time by using the `--disable-nls' switch, all available translations are installed together with the package. However, the environment variable `LINGUAS' may be set, prior to configuration, to limit the installed set. `LINGUAS' should then contain a space separated list of two-letter codes, stating which languages are allowed. Using This Package ================== As a user, if your language has been installed for this package, you only have to set the `LANG' environment variable to the appropriate `LL_CC' combination. Here `LL' is an ISO 639 two-letter language code, and `CC' is an ISO 3166 two-letter country code. For example, let's suppose that you speak German and live in Germany. At the shell prompt, merely execute `setenv LANG de_DE' (in `csh'), `export LANG; LANG=de_DE' (in `sh') or `export LANG=de_DE' (in `bash'). This can be done from your `.login' or `.profile' file, once and for all. You might think that the country code specification is redundant. But in fact, some languages have dialects in different countries. For example, `de_AT' is used for Austria, and `pt_BR' for Brazil. The country code serves to distinguish the dialects. The locale naming convention of `LL_CC', with `LL' denoting the language and `CC' denoting the country, is the one use on systems based on GNU libc. On other systems, some variations of this scheme are used, such as `LL' or `LL_CC.ENCODING'. You can get the list of locales supported by your system for your country by running the command `locale -a | grep '^LL''. Not all programs have translations for all languages. By default, an English message is shown in place of a nonexistent translation. If you understand other languages, you can set up a priority list of languages. This is done through a different environment variable, called `LANGUAGE'. GNU `gettext' gives preference to `LANGUAGE' over `LANG' for the purpose of message handling, but you still need to have `LANG' set to the primary language; this is required by other parts of the system libraries. For example, some Swedish users who would rather read translations in German than English for when Swedish is not available, set `LANGUAGE' to `sv:de' while leaving `LANG' to `sv_SE'. In the `LANGUAGE' environment variable, but not in the `LANG' environment variable, `LL_CC' combinations can be abbreviated as `LL' to denote the language's main dialect. For example, `de' is equivalent to `de_DE' (German as spoken in Germany), and `pt' to `pt_PT' (Portuguese as spoken in Portugal) in this context. Translating Teams ================= For the Free Translation Project to be a success, we need interested people who like their own language and write it well, and who are also able to synergize with other translators speaking the same language. Each translation team has its own mailing list. The up-to-date list of teams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage, `http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/', in the "National teams" area. If you'd like to volunteer to _work_ at translating messages, you should become a member of the translating team for your own language. The subscribing address is _not_ the same as the list itself, it has `-request' appended. For example, speakers of Swedish can send a message to `sv-request@li.org', having this message body: subscribe Keep in mind that team members are expected to participate _actively_ in translations, or at solving translational difficulties, rather than merely lurking around. If your team does not exist yet and you want to start one, or if you are unsure about what to do or how to get started, please write to `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to reach the coordinator for all translator teams. The English team is special. It works at improving and uniformizing the terminology in use. Proven linguistic skill are praised more than programming skill, here. Available Packages ================== Languages are not equally supported in all packages. The following matrix shows the current state of internationalization, as of May 2003. The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which languages PO files have been submitted to translation coordination, with a translation percentage of at least 50%. Ready PO files am az be bg ca cs da de el en en_GB eo es +-------------------------------------------+ a2ps | [] [] [] [] | aegis | () | anubis | | ap-utils | | bash | [] [] [] | batchelor | | bfd | [] [] | binutils | [] [] | bison | [] [] [] | bluez-pin | [] [] | clisp | | clisp | [] [] [] | coreutils | [] [] [] [] | cpio | [] [] [] | darkstat | () [] | diffutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | e2fsprogs | [] [] | enscript | [] [] [] [] | error | [] [] [] [] [] | fetchmail | [] () [] [] [] [] | fileutils | [] [] [] | findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] | flex | [] [] [] [] | gas | [] | gawk | [] [] [] [] | gcal | [] | gcc | [] [] | gettext | [] [] [] [] [] | gettext-runtime | [] [] [] [] [] | gettext-tools | [] [] | gimp-print | [] [] [] [] [] | gliv | | glunarclock | [] [] [] | gnucash | () [] | gnucash-glossary | [] () [] | gnupg | [] () [] [] [] [] | gpe-calendar | [] | gpe-conf | [] | gpe-contacts | [] | gpe-edit | | gpe-login | [] | gpe-ownerinfo | [] | gpe-sketchbook | [] | gpe-timesheet | | gpe-today | [] | gpe-todo | [] | gphoto2 | [] [] [] [] | gprof | [] [] | gpsdrive | () () () | grep | [] [] [] [] [] | gretl | [] | hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] | id-utils | [] [] | indent | [] [] [] [] | jpilot | [] [] [] [] | jwhois | [] | kbd | [] [] [] [] [] | ld | [] [] | libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] | libgpewidget | [] | libiconv | [] [] [] [] [] | lifelines | [] () | lilypond | [] | lingoteach | | lingoteach_lessons | () () | lynx | [] [] [] [] | m4 | [] [] [] [] | mailutils | [] [] | make | [] [] [] | man-db | [] () [] [] () | mysecretdiary | [] [] [] | nano | [] () [] [] [] | nano_1_0 | [] () [] [] [] | opcodes | [] [] | parted | [] [] [] [] [] | ptx | [] [] [] [] [] | python | | radius | | recode | [] [] [] [] [] [] | screem | | sed | [] [] [] [] [] | sh-utils | [] [] [] | sharutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] | sketch | [] () [] | soundtracker | [] [] [] | sp | [] | tar | [] [] [] [] | texinfo | [] [] [] [] | textutils | [] [] [] [] | tin | () () | util-linux | [] [] [] [] [] | vorbis-tools | [] [] [] | wastesedge | () | wdiff | [] [] [] [] | wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | xchat | [] [] [] | xpad | | +-------------------------------------------+ am az be bg ca cs da de el en en_GB eo es 0 1 4 2 31 17 54 60 14 1 4 12 56 et fa fi fr ga gl he hr hu id it ja ko +----------------------------------------+ a2ps | [] [] [] () () | aegis | | anubis | [] | ap-utils | [] | bash | [] [] | batchelor | [] | bfd | [] [] | binutils | [] [] | bison | [] [] [] [] | bluez-pin | [] [] [] [] | clisp | | clisp | [] | coreutils | [] [] [] [] | cpio | [] [] [] [] | darkstat | () [] [] [] | diffutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | e2fsprogs | | enscript | [] [] | error | [] [] [] [] | fetchmail | [] | fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] | findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | flex | [] [] | gas | [] | gawk | [] [] | gcal | [] | gcc | [] | gettext | [] [] [] | gettext-runtime | [] [] [] [] | gettext-tools | [] | gimp-print | [] [] | gliv | () | glunarclock | [] [] [] [] | gnucash | [] | gnucash-glossary | [] | gnupg | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | gpe-calendar | [] | gpe-conf | | gpe-contacts | [] | gpe-edit | [] [] | gpe-login | [] | gpe-ownerinfo | [] [] [] | gpe-sketchbook | [] | gpe-timesheet | [] [] [] | gpe-today | [] [] | gpe-todo | [] [] | gphoto2 | [] [] [] | gprof | [] [] | gpsdrive | () [] () () | grep | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | gretl | [] | hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | id-utils | [] [] [] | indent | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | jpilot | [] () | jwhois | [] [] [] [] | kbd | [] | ld | [] | libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] | libgpewidget | [] [] [] | libiconv | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | lifelines | () | lilypond | [] | lingoteach | [] [] | lingoteach_lessons | | lynx | [] [] [] [] | m4 | [] [] [] [] | mailutils | | make | [] [] [] [] [] [] | man-db | [] () () | mysecretdiary | [] [] | nano | [] [] [] [] | nano_1_0 | [] [] [] [] | opcodes | [] [] | parted | [] [] [] | ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | python | | radius | | recode | [] [] [] [] [] [] | screem | | sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | sh-utils | [] [] [] [] [] [] | sharutils | [] [] [] [] [] | sketch | [] | soundtracker | [] [] [] | sp | [] () | tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | texinfo | [] [] [] [] | textutils | [] [] [] [] [] | tin | [] () | util-linux | [] [] [] [] () [] | vorbis-tools | [] | wastesedge | () | wdiff | [] [] [] [] [] | wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | xchat | [] [] [] | xpad | | +----------------------------------------+ et fa fi fr ga gl he hr hu id it ja ko 20 1 15 73 14 24 8 10 30 31 19 31 9 lg lt lv ms nb nl nn no pl pt pt_BR ro +----------------------------------------+ a2ps | [] [] () () () [] [] | aegis | () | anubis | [] [] | ap-utils | () | bash | [] | batchelor | | bfd | | binutils | | bison | [] [] [] [] | bluez-pin | [] | clisp | | clisp | [] | coreutils | [] | cpio | [] [] [] | darkstat | [] [] [] [] | diffutils | [] [] [] | e2fsprogs | | enscript | [] [] | error | [] [] | fetchmail | () () | fileutils | [] | findutils | [] [] [] [] | flex | [] | gas | | gawk | [] | gcal | | gcc | | gettext | [] | gettext-runtime | [] | gettext-tools | | gimp-print | [] | gliv | [] | glunarclock | [] | gnucash | | gnucash-glossary | [] [] | gnupg | | gpe-calendar | [] [] | gpe-conf | [] [] | gpe-contacts | [] | gpe-edit | [] [] | gpe-login | [] [] | gpe-ownerinfo | [] [] | gpe-sketchbook | [] [] | gpe-timesheet | [] [] | gpe-today | [] [] | gpe-todo | [] [] | gphoto2 | | gprof | [] | gpsdrive | () () () | grep | [] [] [] [] | gretl | | hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | id-utils | [] [] [] | indent | [] [] [] | jpilot | () () | jwhois | [] [] [] | kbd | | ld | | libc | [] [] [] [] | libgpewidget | [] [] | libiconv | [] [] | lifelines | | lilypond | [] | lingoteach | | lingoteach_lessons | | lynx | [] [] | m4 | [] [] [] [] | mailutils | | make | [] [] | man-db | [] | mysecretdiary | [] | nano | [] [] [] [] | nano_1_0 | [] [] [] [] | opcodes | [] [] [] | parted | [] [] [] | ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | python | | radius | | recode | [] [] [] | screem | | sed | [] [] | sh-utils | [] | sharutils | [] | sketch | [] | soundtracker | | sp | | tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] | texinfo | [] | textutils | [] | tin | | util-linux | [] [] | vorbis-tools | [] [] | wastesedge | | wdiff | [] [] [] [] | wget | [] [] [] | xchat | [] [] | xpad | [] | +----------------------------------------+ lg lt lv ms nb nl nn no pl pt pt_BR ro 0 0 2 11 7 26 3 4 18 15 34 34 ru sk sl sr sv ta tr uk vi wa zh_CN zh_TW +-------------------------------------------+ a2ps | [] [] [] [] [] | 16 aegis | () | 0 anubis | [] [] | 5 ap-utils | () | 1 bash | [] | 7 batchelor | | 1 bfd | [] [] [] | 7 binutils | [] [] [] | 7 bison | [] [] | 13 bluez-pin | | 7 clisp | | 0 clisp | | 5 coreutils | [] [] [] [] [] | 14 cpio | [] [] [] | 13 darkstat | [] () () | 9 diffutils | [] [] [] [] | 21 e2fsprogs | [] | 3 enscript | [] [] [] | 11 error | [] [] [] | 14 fetchmail | [] | 7 fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 15 findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 27 flex | [] [] [] | 10 gas | [] | 3 gawk | [] [] | 9 gcal | [] [] | 4 gcc | [] | 4 gettext | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 15 gettext-runtime | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16 gettext-tools | [] [] | 5 gimp-print | [] [] | 10 gliv | | 1 glunarclock | [] [] [] | 11 gnucash | [] [] | 4 gnucash-glossary | [] [] [] | 8 gnupg | [] [] [] [] | 16 gpe-calendar | [] | 5 gpe-conf | | 3 gpe-contacts | [] | 4 gpe-edit | [] | 5 gpe-login | [] | 5 gpe-ownerinfo | [] | 7 gpe-sketchbook | [] | 5 gpe-timesheet | [] | 6 gpe-today | [] | 6 gpe-todo | [] | 6 gphoto2 | [] [] | 9 gprof | [] [] | 7 gpsdrive | [] [] | 3 grep | [] [] [] [] | 24 gretl | | 2 hello | [] [] [] [] [] | 33 id-utils | [] [] [] | 11 indent | [] [] [] [] | 19 jpilot | [] [] [] [] [] | 10 jwhois | () () [] [] | 10 kbd | [] [] | 8 ld | [] [] | 5 libc | [] [] [] [] | 20 libgpewidget | | 6 libiconv | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 21 lifelines | [] | 2 lilypond | [] | 4 lingoteach | | 2 lingoteach_lessons | () | 0 lynx | [] [] [] [] | 14 m4 | [] [] [] | 15 mailutils | | 2 make | [] [] [] [] | 15 man-db | [] | 6 mysecretdiary | [] [] | 8 nano | [] [] [] | 15 nano_1_0 | [] [] [] | 15 opcodes | [] [] | 9 parted | [] [] | 13 ptx | [] [] [] | 22 python | | 0 radius | | 0 recode | [] [] [] [] | 19 screem | [] | 1 sed | [] [] [] [] [] | 20 sh-utils | [] [] [] | 13 sharutils | [] [] [] [] | 16 sketch | [] | 5 soundtracker | [] | 7 sp | [] | 3 tar | [] [] [] [] [] | 24 texinfo | [] [] [] [] | 13 textutils | [] [] [] [] [] | 15 tin | | 1 util-linux | [] [] | 14 vorbis-tools | [] | 7 wastesedge | | 0 wdiff | [] [] [] [] | 17 wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 25 xchat | [] [] [] | 11 xpad | | 1 +-------------------------------------------+ 50 teams ru sk sl sr sv ta tr uk vi wa zh_CN zh_TW 97 domains 32 19 16 0 56 0 48 10 1 1 12 23 913 Some counters in the preceding matrix are higher than the number of visible blocks let us expect. This is because a few extra PO files are used for implementing regional variants of languages, or language dialects. For a PO file in the matrix above to be effective, the package to which it applies should also have been internationalized and distributed as such by its maintainer. There might be an observable lag between the mere existence a PO file and its wide availability in a distribution. If May 2003 seems to be old, you may fetch a more recent copy of this `ABOUT-NLS' file on most GNU archive sites. The most up-to-date matrix with full percentage details can be found at `http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/matrix.html'. Using `gettext' in new packages =============================== If you are writing a freely available program and want to internationalize it you are welcome to use GNU `gettext' in your package. Of course you have to respect the GNU Library General Public License which covers the use of the GNU `gettext' library. This means in particular that even non-free programs can use `libintl' as a shared library, whereas only free software can use `libintl' as a static library or use modified versions of `libintl'. Once the sources are changed appropriately and the setup can handle the use of `gettext' the only thing missing are the translations. The Free Translation Project is also available for packages which are not developed inside the GNU project. Therefore the information given above applies also for every other Free Software Project. Contact `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to make the `.pot' files available to the translation teams.