Re: Error in .po file ?

[Dafydd Harries <daf parnassus ath cx>]

On Wed, Aug 20, 2003 at 08:07:33PM +0200, Christian Rose wrote:
> ons 2003-08-20 klockan 15.40 skrev Dafydd Harries:
> > > Shouldn't these be changed to something like "first element" and "second
> > > element", or at least explained in a translator comment?
> > > If these messages are intended for non-developers (and non-LISPers) I
> > > think the terms "car" and "cdr" should be abandoned.
> > 
> > I think it's questionable whether "Bad first element in XML pair" is any
> > better than "Bad car in XML pair" for the average user.
> 
> It's certainly more easily translated, and thus giving better
> translations.

Agreed.

> > The quesiton is:
> > are these messages useful to users, or are they useful to developer
> > only? And if they are not useful to users, should they be marked
> > translatable? I am not gooing to attempt to answer these questions.
> >
> > This issue is not specific to GConf. There are many translatable
> > messages in GNOME of a technical nature.
> 
> Let's not start going down the route of assuming that our "non-ordinary"
> users don't need translations -- In my experience, that's often simply
> not true. I've met quite a few technical people who had problems with
> English, and preferred localized interfaces wherever they were
> available.

I do think that all our users should have translations if they want
them, technical or not. But (and this is not a translation issue, this is a
usability issue) if they are technical strings, they are not going to be
accessible to some users whatever language they are in.

> And these people aren't just our users -- sometimes they are the
> administrators of our systems too, or even aspiring contributors. We
> can't assume that only the users of our most visible desktop UI are the
> ones needing translations; we need translations of more technical
> behind-the-scenes stuff too. This includes command line tools and
> technical error messages.

I do think that all messages that are commonly visible to users should
be translated. This includes error messages and even things which
normally go to places like .xsession-errors. Users should be able to
administer their systems and develop software in whichever language they
feel most useful to them.

There are some strings which only happen in exceptional circumstances,
and sometimes I'm not sure whether it's worth me trying to translate
such a message. An example (which has similar siblings) from gcalctool
which springs to mind:

"*** MXR SHOULD BE AT LEAST %d*T + %d = %d  ***\n"
"*** ACTUALLY MXR = %d, AND T = %d  ***\n"

Should such messages be translated as they are, or should the original
be changed, and is the time translators spend on such messages worth the
benefit that the users will derive from the translation?

Again, I'm not presenting answers, only questions.

-- 
Dafydd