On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 7:49 PM, Andrea Pescetti <pesce...@apache.org> wrote: > On 04/06/2012 Rob Weir wrote: >> >> [ I'd love to start a new list, ooo-i...@incubator.apache.org to >> handle this and the following translation coordination issues ] > > > I'm not sure the current traffic would justify it, but at due time it would > make sense (and as Juergen wrote the name should be "l10n" or "i18n"). >
Here's what I'm seeing: 1) We're getting someone pop onto the ooo-dev list at frequent intervals, offering to help with translations. But only some of them are succeeding. 2) Some who want to translate are not even jumping onto the ooo-dev list because it is too large and scary. For example, I received a note last week from someone who wanted to help with a translation. Paraphrasing the note I received: "The information overflow on this ooo-dev really scares me and and takes too much time away from my other priorities. If you possibly could provide a much more focused environment for localization efforts I might be able to help. But this environment must provide "step-to-step" guides on what to do, and resources to facilitate the translation process." 3) There is a "natural size" to the translation effort. For every language we support, there will naturally be at least once person. Yes, some languages will be worked on by multiple people, and some talented translators might help with more than one language. But on average, we should anticipate having as many people as we have languages. So that would be around 100 people. Although we don't have that many right now, it is reasonable to expect we get closer to that number, if we provide a supportive environment in which to do this work. 4) The translation work is separate from almost any other topic on ooo-dev. Testers need to know about ongoing dev work. Ditto for porters, UX, documentation, etc. But translation is more of an isolated activity. 5) The translation work is also on a different schedule than the main work on ooo-dev. A translator might get involved for a week on a release, near the end, and then be inactive for months more. So a focused list, where they can remain subscribed to, and see a generally low traffic level, is ideal. The traffic picks up at some point in a release, after the features are added and translations need to be updated. But the traffic can be lower at other times. > >> 1) You can send a note to the ooo-dev list [or ooo-i10n list if we >> make one] requesting the PO file for that language. > > > It is a set of files, so everything around here should be plural. > > >> [ I need a list of some suggested tools that can be used with PO files ] > > > It will be enough to list http://www.poedit.net/ (it's even category A, for > those sensitive to differences among free software licenses). > > >> [ A separate topic, and one where we could use an equivalent document, >> would be How to Help Translate the Website ] > > > Yes but I wasn't able to find effective ways to do so as non-committers, > even though I've read somewhere that the bookmarklet should support > suggestions from anonymous users. > > Regards, > Andrea.
