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Re: [RANT] French translation for debconf templates stucked at 90% : analysis



On Tue, Jun 29, 2004 at 03:50:39PM +0200, Frank Küster wrote:
> Christian Perrier <bubulle@debian.org> wrote:
> 
> > Such as using either "du" or "Sie", I guess.
> >
> > I have noticed that both german and italian teams most often use "du"
> > and "tu" for "you" in user interaction texts. Most languages have this
> > notion of 2nd person singular form which modern English does not use anymore.
> >
> > It's a matter of fact that all french l10n teams I'm aware of strictly
> > avoid to use the "tu" for "you", but always "vous". At least in
> > French, but I'm pretty sure it's similar for German or Italian , "tu"
> > is far too familiar for being "professionnal" : in all our languages,
> > when meeting someone for the first time, using a familiar form looks
> > strange (except...in electronic communication)
> 
> And except in swedish and perhaps other scandinavian languages. If I
> remember right, they "decided" to drop the equivalent of "Sie"/"vous"
> some decades ago.

In Danish translations we always use the less formal "du" in stead of
the formal "De" as a translation of "you". Somtimes we use the informal
"man" or write it in the passive mode. But I think there should be a
more friendly tone between the computer and the user - the computer is
your  friend - not your  business partner.

Best regards
Keld



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