1Notes on the Free Translation Project 2************************************* 3 4 Free software is going international! The Free Translation Project 5is a way to get maintainers of free software, translators, and users all 6together, so that will gradually become able to speak many languages. 7A few packages already provide translations for their messages. 8 9 If you found this `ABOUT-NLS' file inside a distribution, you may 10assume that the distributed package does use GNU `gettext' internally, 11itself available at your nearest GNU archive site. But you do _not_ 12need to install GNU `gettext' prior to configuring, installing or using 13this package with messages translated. 14 15 Installers will find here some useful hints. These notes also 16explain how users should proceed for getting the programs to use the 17available translations. They tell how people wanting to contribute and 18work at translations should contact the appropriate team. 19 20 When reporting bugs in the `intl/' directory or bugs which may be 21related to internationalization, you should tell about the version of 22`gettext' which is used. The information can be found in the 23`intl/VERSION' file, in internationalized packages. 24 25Quick configuration advice 26========================== 27 28 If you want to exploit the full power of internationalization, you 29should configure it using 30 31 ./configure --with-included-gettext 32 33to force usage of internationalizing routines provided within this 34package, despite the existence of internationalizing capabilities in the 35operating system where this package is being installed. So far, only 36the `gettext' implementation in the GNU C library version 2 provides as 37many features (such as locale alias, message inheritance, automatic 38charset conversion or plural form handling) as the implementation here. 39It is also not possible to offer this additional functionality on top 40of a `catgets' implementation. Future versions of GNU `gettext' will 41very likely convey even more functionality. So it might be a good idea 42to change to GNU `gettext' as soon as possible. 43 44 So you need _not_ provide this option if you are using GNU libc 2 or 45you have installed a recent copy of the GNU gettext package with the 46included `libintl'. 47 48INSTALL Matters 49=============== 50 51 Some packages are "localizable" when properly installed; the 52programs they contain can be made to speak your own native language. 53Most such packages use GNU `gettext'. Other packages have their own 54ways to internationalization, predating GNU `gettext'. 55 56 By default, this package will be installed to allow translation of 57messages. It will automatically detect whether the system already 58provides the GNU `gettext' functions. If not, the GNU `gettext' own 59library will be used. This library is wholly contained within this 60package, usually in the `intl/' subdirectory, so prior installation of 61the GNU `gettext' package is _not_ required. Installers may use 62special options at configuration time for changing the default 63behaviour. The commands: 64 65 ./configure --with-included-gettext 66 ./configure --disable-nls 67 68will respectively bypass any pre-existing `gettext' to use the 69internationalizing routines provided within this package, or else, 70_totally_ disable translation of messages. 71 72 When you already have GNU `gettext' installed on your system and run 73configure without an option for your new package, `configure' will 74probably detect the previously built and installed `libintl.a' file and 75will decide to use this. This might be not what is desirable. You 76should use the more recent version of the GNU `gettext' library. I.e. 77if the file `intl/VERSION' shows that the library which comes with this 78package is more recent, you should use 79 80 ./configure --with-included-gettext 81 82to prevent auto-detection. 83 84 The configuration process will not test for the `catgets' function 85and therefore it will not be used. The reason is that even an 86emulation of `gettext' on top of `catgets' could not provide all the 87extensions of the GNU `gettext' library. 88 89 Internationalized packages have usually many `po/LL.po' files, where 90LL gives an ISO 639 two-letter code identifying the language. Unless 91translations have been forbidden at `configure' time by using the 92`--disable-nls' switch, all available translations are installed 93together with the package. However, the environment variable `LINGUAS' 94may be set, prior to configuration, to limit the installed set. 95`LINGUAS' should then contain a space separated list of two-letter 96codes, stating which languages are allowed. 97 98Using This Package 99================== 100 101 As a user, if your language has been installed for this package, you 102only have to set the `LANG' environment variable to the appropriate 103`LL_CC' combination. Here `LL' is an ISO 639 two-letter language code, 104and `CC' is an ISO 3166 two-letter country code. For example, let's 105suppose that you speak German and live in Germany. At the shell 106prompt, merely execute `setenv LANG de_DE' (in `csh'), 107`export LANG; LANG=de_DE' (in `sh') or `export LANG=de_DE' (in `bash'). 108This can be done from your `.login' or `.profile' file, once and for 109all. 110 111 You might think that the country code specification is redundant. 112But in fact, some languages have dialects in different countries. For 113example, `de_AT' is used for Austria, and `pt_BR' for Brazil. The 114country code serves to distinguish the dialects. 115 116 Not all programs have translations for all languages. By default, an 117English message is shown in place of a nonexistent translation. If you 118understand other languages, you can set up a priority list of languages. 119This is done through a different environment variable, called 120`LANGUAGE'. GNU `gettext' gives preference to `LANGUAGE' over `LANG' 121for the purpose of message handling, but you still need to have `LANG' 122set to the primary language; this is required by other parts of the 123system libraries. For example, some Swedish users who would rather 124read translations in German than English for when Swedish is not 125available, set `LANGUAGE' to `sv:de' while leaving `LANG' to `sv_SE'. 126 127 In the `LANGUAGE' environment variable, but not in the `LANG' 128environment variable, `LL_CC' combinations can be abbreviated as `LL' 129to denote the language's main dialect. For example, `de' is equivalent 130to `de_DE' (German as spoken in Germany), and `pt' to `pt_PT' 131(Portuguese as spoken in Portugal) in this context. 132 133Translating Teams 134================= 135 136 For the Free Translation Project to be a success, we need interested 137people who like their own language and write it well, and who are also 138able to synergize with other translators speaking the same language. 139Each translation team has its own mailing list. The up-to-date list of 140teams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage, 141`http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/', in the "National teams" 142area. 143 144 If you'd like to volunteer to _work_ at translating messages, you 145should become a member of the translating team for your own language. 146The subscribing address is _not_ the same as the list itself, it has 147`-request' appended. For example, speakers of Swedish can send a 148message to `sv-request@li.org', having this message body: 149 150 subscribe 151 152 Keep in mind that team members are expected to participate 153_actively_ in translations, or at solving translational difficulties, 154rather than merely lurking around. If your team does not exist yet and 155you want to start one, or if you are unsure about what to do or how to 156get started, please write to `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to reach the 157coordinator for all translator teams. 158 159 The English team is special. It works at improving and uniformizing 160the terminology in use. Proven linguistic skill are praised more than 161programming skill, here. 162 163Available Packages 164================== 165 166 Languages are not equally supported in all packages. The following 167matrix shows the current state of internationalization, as of September 1682001. The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which languages 169PO files have been submitted to translation coordination, with a 170translation percentage of at least 50%. 171 172 Ready PO files bg cs da de el en eo es et fi fr gl he hr id it ja 173 +----------------------------------------------------+ 174 a2ps | [] [] [] | 175 bash | [] [] [] [] | 176 bfd | | 177 binutils | [] | 178 bison | [] [] [] [] [] | 179 clisp | [] [] [] [] | 180 cpio | [] [] [] [] [] | 181 diffutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 182 enscript | [] [] | 183 error | [] [] | 184 fetchmail | | 185 fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 186 findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 187 flex | [] [] [] | 188 freetype | | 189 gas | | 190 gawk | [] [] | 191 gcal | | 192 gcc | | 193 gettext | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 194 gnupg | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 195 gprof | | 196 grep | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 197 hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 198 id-utils | [] [] [] | 199 indent | [] [] [] [] [] | 200 jpilot | [] | 201 kbd | | 202 ld | [] | 203 libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 204 lilypond | [] | 205 lynx | [] [] [] [] | 206 m4 | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 207 make | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 208 mysecretdiary | [] | 209 nano | [] [] [] | 210 opcodes | | 211 parted | [] [] [] | 212 ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 213 python | | 214 recode | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 215 sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 216 sh-utils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 217 sharutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 218 sketch | | 219 soundtracker | [] [] [] | 220 sp | | 221 tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 222 texinfo | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 223 textutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 224 util-linux | [] [] | 225 wdiff | [] [] [] | 226 wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 227 +----------------------------------------------------+ 228 bg cs da de el en eo es et fi fr gl he hr id it ja 229 0 14 24 32 11 1 8 23 13 1 33 22 4 0 7 9 18 230 231 ko lv nb nl nn no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr uk zh 232 +----------------------------------------------------+ 233 a2ps | [] [] [] | 6 234 bash | | 4 235 bfd | | 0 236 binutils | | 1 237 bison | [] | 6 238 clisp | [] | 5 239 cpio | [] [] [] [] [] | 10 240 diffutils | [] [] [] [] | 11 241 enscript | [] [] [] | 5 242 error | [] [] | 4 243 fetchmail | | 0 244 fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 17 245 findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16 246 flex | [] [] [] | 6 247 freetype | | 0 248 gas | | 0 249 gawk | [] | 3 250 gcal | | 0 251 gcc | | 0 252 gettext | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 18 253 gnupg | [] [] [] | 10 254 gprof | | 0 255 grep | [] [] [] [] | 12 256 hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 22 257 id-utils | [] [] [] | 6 258 indent | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 12 259 jpilot | | 1 260 kbd | [] | 1 261 ld | | 1 262 libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16 263 lilypond | [] [] | 3 264 lynx | [] [] [] [] | 8 265 m4 | [] [] [] [] | 12 266 make | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 12 267 mysecretdiary | | 1 268 nano | [] | 4 269 opcodes | [] | 1 270 parted | [] [] | 5 271 ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 15 272 python | | 0 273 recode | [] [] [] [] | 13 274 sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 19 275 sh-utils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 21 276 sharutils | [] [] [] | 11 277 sketch | | 0 278 soundtracker | | 3 279 sp | | 0 280 tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 15 281 texinfo | [] | 7 282 textutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16 283 util-linux | [] [] | 4 284 wdiff | [] [] [] [] | 7 285 wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 17 286 +----------------------------------------------------+ 287 33 teams ko lv nb nl nn no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr uk zh 288 53 domains 9 1 6 20 0 6 17 1 13 25 10 11 23 21 2 2 387 289 290 Some counters in the preceding matrix are higher than the number of 291visible blocks let us expect. This is because a few extra PO files are 292used for implementing regional variants of languages, or language 293dialects. 294 295 For a PO file in the matrix above to be effective, the package to 296which it applies should also have been internationalized and 297distributed as such by its maintainer. There might be an observable 298lag between the mere existence a PO file and its wide availability in a 299distribution. 300 301 If September 2001 seems to be old, you may fetch a more recent copy 302of this `ABOUT-NLS' file on most GNU archive sites. The most 303up-to-date matrix with full percentage details can be found at 304`http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/matrix.html'. 305 306Using `gettext' in new packages 307=============================== 308 309 If you are writing a freely available program and want to 310internationalize it you are welcome to use GNU `gettext' in your 311package. Of course you have to respect the GNU Library General Public 312License which covers the use of the GNU `gettext' library. This means 313in particular that even non-free programs can use `libintl' as a shared 314library, whereas only free software can use `libintl' as a static 315library or use modified versions of `libintl'. 316 317 Once the sources are changed appropriately and the setup can handle 318to use of `gettext' the only thing missing are the translations. The 319Free Translation Project is also available for packages which are not 320developed inside the GNU project. Therefore the information given above 321applies also for every other Free Software Project. Contact 322`translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to make the `.pot' files available to 323the translation teams. 324 325