Re: Translation of a license
On 1/17/06, Henning Makholm <henning@makholm.net> wrote:
> Scripsit Josh Triplett <josh@freedesktop.org>
>
> > Yes. Furthermore, given that the license notice should not be
> > translated, I would suggest that the use of gettext on the license
> > notice strings is a bug.
>
> I am not convinced that the _copyright notice_ (i.e. "This program is
> free software, etc, etc", in contrast from the actual text of the GPL)
> should not be translated.
>
> It would seem to be in the spirit of the GPL that if a user has
> selected a German locale (indicating that he is more comfortable with
> seeing messages in Germal), he should best be told _in his preferred
> language_ that the program he is using is free.
>
> The precise legal definition of the freedoms is not something to be
> lightly translated, but I think that the short informational statement
> that some relevant freedoms exist is a good candidate for translation.
>
> Technically, the statement we're talking about is probably the one
> required by GPL #2(c) - notice in particular that 2(c) does not
> require any specific wording of the notice. There seems to be nothing
> in 2(c) that implies that the notice cannot be given in the user's
> preferred language.
You could include a copy of the license notice in English and <other
language> and allow them to both be viewed. I think that is safest.
Andrew
--
Andrew Donnellan
http://andrewdonnellan.com
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