filenames in aptitude and translation of docs

[Clytie Siddall <clytie@riverland.net.au>]

Hi everybody :)

1. Scrambling on my knees and elbows through the jungle of strings in 
Aptitude, I've come across a few filenames. Since there are some 
variables supplied as entire strings, which we should not translate, I 
wondered about the filenames. Here are a couple:

> po:618
> reference:	⑤	src/ui.cc:672
> Original:	⌘0	help.txt
>
> .po:619
> reference:	⑤	src/ui.cc:688
> Original:	⌘0	README

(Output from LocFactoryEditor, excellent localizer for Mac OSX GUI)

(a) I would be quite happy to translate them if I may, but I need first

(b) to check the display options: can the Debian system display 
filenames in utf-8? Because those two strings, for example, would 
become:

> po:618
> reference:	⑤	src/ui.cc:672
> Original:	⌘0	help.txt
> Việt:		trợgiúp.txt
>
> .po:619
> reference:	⑤	src/ui.cc:688
> Original:	⌘0	README
> Việt:		ĐỌCTÔI

where at least some of those characters aren't available in Latin-1.

2. This brings up another question which has been hovering in the dusty 
corners of my mind (gotta clean that thing out one day): we tell the 
user to see this or that document in order to gain more information 
(e.g. the files above, the Debian Social Contract, guidelines of one 
kind or another), but if they're not translated, there is little use in 
doing so, and in fact we are disempowering the user by saying, "Here's 
the info you need", and s/he races off to read the info ... only to 
find it's not translated.

If we haven't yet translated those items in a specific language, would 
it be OK to put a note in the text, or better still, a link which leads 
to a page stating which Debian documents have already been translated 
in your language, which are currently being translated, possibly which 
translations are planned, and even asking the user to vote for his or 
her most-want-to-read document, to aid in translating the ones that 
would do the most good?

I would be willing to manage that for my language.

Thankyou for your patience in reading my posts, and in answering them 
so helpfully.

from Clytie (vi-VN, team/nhóm Gnome-vi)

Clytie Siddall--Renmark, in the Riverland of South Australia

Ở thành phố Renmark, tại miền sông của Nam Úc