Re: Cultural Issue with the Foot Logo

["Theppitak Karoonboonyanan" <thep linux thai net>]

On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 9:34 AM, Theppitak Karoonboonyanan
<thep linux thai net> wrote:
> On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 9:01 AM, Gudmund Areskoug
> <gudmundpublic gmail com> wrote:
>> Petr Kovar skrev:
>>>
>>> "Theppitak Karoonboonyanan" <thep linux thai net>, Sun, 2 Nov 2008
>>> 02:10:32
>>> +0700:
>>>
>>>> On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 1:34 AM, Petr Kovar <pmkovar gnome org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> "Theppitak Karoonboonyanan" <thep linux thai net>, Sat, 1 Nov 2008
>>>>> 14:00:06 +0700:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Let me add another difference between the direct logo localization
>>>>>> and the icon theming methods.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Many Thai users don't like to use Thai translation. This is a popular
>>>>>> taste, despite how much translation effort and quality assurance has
>>>>>> been done. And that's why I put lower priority on translation than
>>>>>> infrastructure development. (I joined the team after having done enough
>>>>>> progress on GTK+, Pango, etc.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And by this practice, the logo localization will have limited effect,
>>>>>> while theming still allows Thai people who choose English locale to
>>>>>> change the logo.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In summary, I'd propose icon theming + GNOME recognition of the
>>>>>> secondary logo.
>>>>>
>>>>> Let me ask you, those Thai people with such a non-Thai-locale taste
>>>>> likely have a better understanding of English or Western culture,
>>>>> right? (At least that's what I suppose.) So the foot logo shouldn't be
>>>>> a big problem for them then? Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
>>>>
>>>> Nope.The taste is popular just because software are badly translated
>>>> in general. And people feel more happy with original English terms
>>>> than guessing the translators' whim on choosing inconsistent
>>>> translated terms. Many are full with typos or misinterpretations, for
>>>> example. Kind of bad impression. And that habit is not changed when
>>>> they use GNOME, despite our heavy QA.
>>>>
>>>> There is nothing to do with English skill nor familiarity with Western
>>>> cultures.
>>>
>>> Sorry, but I can't understand this. In my way of thinking, one has to have
>>> rather good English skills in order to use (American) English locale. And
>>> I'm pretty sure that good English skills necessarily come with some level
>>> of familiarity with Western culture.
>>
>> While on interpreting assignment, I've met factory workers with
>> (otherwise) zero knowledge of Italian operating an assembly line with an
>> Italian UI. The translation the supplier had promised simply never
>> materialized in any usable form, so they made do with what they had.
>>
>> Context is king.
>
> Yes, and what's actually needed to use English UI is just a small set
> of vocabulary. File, New, Open, Edit, Cut, Paste, etc. When long
> messages appear, just find the Next, OK or Cancel button. Never waste
> time to read them. And almost zero user reads manuals/helps.
>
> Sort of sad to learn that as a translator, right?

Having that said, though, I think setting appropriate default icon theme
for locales is still a good idea.

Regards,
-- 
Theppitak Karoonboonyanan
http://linux.thai.net/~thep/