Re: Do not touch l10n files
On Thu, May 15, 2003 at 12:22:27AM +0200, Denis Barbier wrote:
> On Wed, May 14, 2003 at 02:02:27PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> > This is a far cry from ``Do not touch l10n files''.
>
> Hey, this was the subject, I had to get it short. My original post
> contained the following paragraph:
> So I would like to ask developers not to edit l10n files (templates,
> PO files, etc) themselves; if you believe that something goes wrong,
> notify the translator or his translation team (or any other trusted
> person). If you disagree, think twice before applying your changes,
> you are certainly wrong.
Oh, rubbish. I won't claim to be able to deal with l10n files in every
language under the sun, but I'm familiar enough with several European
languages to be able to correct minor errors, make cautious small
updates when something has changed globally, and so on. As long as I'm
careful, I believe that this improves the state of l10n. Sure, I'll
usually remember to tell the translator about it too, but I have many
things to do, and translations are often the last thing I do before
making a release in order to make sure that they're as up to date as
possible so I'm often in a hurry.
Perhaps this is just a translation problem itself, but "you are
certainly wrong" has an incredibly arrogant tone. If you want a
reduction in hostility, *please* tone down your statements. Translators
are no more perfect than maintainers are. I could not possibly claim
with a straight face that all native English speakers speak better
English than all non-natives; from some (far from all) translations I've
been sent for languages I understand, the same is true of some people
translating to other languages too.
(Speaking of which, would anyone like to volunteer to translate man-db's
pt_BR PO file who doesn't insist on translating out-of-date versions
rather than the tarballs I spend effort on creating specifically for the
benefit of translators? :) I've repeatedly asked him to change his
practices, contacting him and his translation team to no avail; I've had
to resort to ignoring his patches because they really aren't of any use
any more. Thanks ...)
Maintainers and translators need to have *mutual* respect.
Cheers,
--
Colin Watson [cjwatson@flatline.org.uk]
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