ABOUT-NLS
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- Notes on the Free Translation Project
- *************************************
- Free software is going international! The Free Translation Project
- is a way to get maintainers of free software, translators, and users all
- together, so that will gradually become able to speak many languages.
- A few packages already provide translations for their messages.
- If you found this `ABOUT-NLS' file inside a distribution, you may
- assume that the distributed package does use GNU `gettext' internally,
- itself available at your nearest GNU archive site. But you do _not_
- need to install GNU `gettext' prior to configuring, installing or using
- this package with messages translated.
- Installers will find here some useful hints. These notes also
- explain how users should proceed for getting the programs to use the
- available translations. They tell how people wanting to contribute and
- work at translations should contact the appropriate team.
- When reporting bugs in the `intl/' directory or bugs which may be
- related to internationalization, you should tell about the version of
- `gettext' which is used. The information can be found in the
- `intl/VERSION' file, in internationalized packages.
- Quick configuration advice
- ==========================
- If you want to exploit the full power of internationalization, you
- should configure it using
- ./configure --with-included-gettext
- to force usage of internationalizing routines provided within this
- package, despite the existence of internationalizing capabilities in the
- operating system where this package is being installed. So far, only
- the `gettext' implementation in the GNU C library version 2 provides as
- many features (such as locale alias, message inheritance, automatic
- charset conversion or plural form handling) as the implementation here.
- It is also not possible to offer this additional functionality on top
- of a `catgets' implementation. Future versions of GNU `gettext' will
- very likely convey even more functionality. So it might be a good idea
- to change to GNU `gettext' as soon as possible.
- So you need _not_ provide this option if you are using GNU libc 2 or
- you have installed a recent copy of the GNU gettext package with the
- included `libintl'.
- INSTALL Matters
- ===============
- Some packages are "localizable" when properly installed; the
- programs they contain can be made to speak your own native language.
- Most such packages use GNU `gettext'. Other packages have their own
- ways to internationalization, predating GNU `gettext'.
- By default, this package will be installed to allow translation of
- messages. It will automatically detect whether the system already
- provides the GNU `gettext' functions. If not, the GNU `gettext' own
- library will be used. This library is wholly contained within this
- package, usually in the `intl/' subdirectory, so prior installation of
- the GNU `gettext' package is _not_ required. Installers may use
- special options at configuration time for changing the default
- behaviour. The commands:
- ./configure --with-included-gettext
- ./configure --disable-nls
- will respectively bypass any pre-existing `gettext' to use the
- internationalizing routines provided within this package, or else,
- _totally_ disable translation of messages.
- When you already have GNU `gettext' installed on your system and run
- configure without an option for your new package, `configure' will
- probably detect the previously built and installed `libintl.a' file and
- will decide to use this. This might be not what is desirable. You
- should use the more recent version of the GNU `gettext' library. I.e.
- if the file `intl/VERSION' shows that the library which comes with this
- package is more recent, you should use
- ./configure --with-included-gettext
- to prevent auto-detection.
- The configuration process will not test for the `catgets' function
- and therefore it will not be used. The reason is that even an
- emulation of `gettext' on top of `catgets' could not provide all the
- extensions of the GNU `gettext' library.
- Internationalized packages have usually many `po/LL.po' files, where
- LL gives an ISO 639 two-letter code identifying the language. Unless
- translations have been forbidden at `configure' time by using the
- `--disable-nls' switch, all available translations are installed
- together with the package. However, the environment variable `LINGUAS'
- may be set, prior to configuration, to limit the installed set.
- `LINGUAS' should then contain a space separated list of two-letter
- codes, stating which languages are allowed.
- Using This Package
- ==================
- As a user, if your language has been installed for this package, you
- only have to set the `LANG' environment variable to the appropriate
- `LL_CC' combination. Here `LL' is an ISO 639 two-letter language code,
- and `CC' is an ISO 3166 two-letter country code. For example, let's
- suppose that you speak German and live in Germany. At the shell
- prompt, merely execute `setenv LANG de_DE' (in `csh'),
- `export LANG; LANG=de_DE' (in `sh') or `export LANG=de_DE' (in `bash').
- This can be done from your `.login' or `.profile' file, once and for
- all.
- You might think that the country code specification is redundant.
- But in fact, some languages have dialects in different countries. For
- example, `de_AT' is used for Austria, and `pt_BR' for Brazil. The
- country code serves to distinguish the dialects.
- The locale naming convention of `LL_CC', with `LL' denoting the
- language and `CC' denoting the country, is the one use on systems based
- on GNU libc. On other systems, some variations of this scheme are
- used, such as `LL' or `LL_CC.ENCODING'. You can get the list of
- locales supported by your system for your country by running the command
- `locale -a | grep '^LL''.
- Not all programs have translations for all languages. By default, an
- English message is shown in place of a nonexistent translation. If you
- understand other languages, you can set up a priority list of languages.
- This is done through a different environment variable, called
- `LANGUAGE'. GNU `gettext' gives preference to `LANGUAGE' over `LANG'
- for the purpose of message handling, but you still need to have `LANG'
- set to the primary language; this is required by other parts of the
- system libraries. For example, some Swedish users who would rather
- read translations in German than English for when Swedish is not
- available, set `LANGUAGE' to `sv:de' while leaving `LANG' to `sv_SE'.
- In the `LANGUAGE' environment variable, but not in the `LANG'
- environment variable, `LL_CC' combinations can be abbreviated as `LL'
- to denote the language's main dialect. For example, `de' is equivalent
- to `de_DE' (German as spoken in Germany), and `pt' to `pt_PT'
- (Portuguese as spoken in Portugal) in this context.
- Translating Teams
- =================
- For the Free Translation Project to be a success, we need interested
- people who like their own language and write it well, and who are also
- able to synergize with other translators speaking the same language.
- Each translation team has its own mailing list. The up-to-date list of
- teams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage,
- `http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/', in the "National teams"
- area.
- If you'd like to volunteer to _work_ at translating messages, you
- should become a member of the translating team for your own language.
- The subscribing address is _not_ the same as the list itself, it has
- `-request' appended. For example, speakers of Swedish can send a
- message to `sv-request@li.org', having this message body:
- subscribe
- Keep in mind that team members are expected to participate
- _actively_ in translations, or at solving translational difficulties,
- rather than merely lurking around. If your team does not exist yet and
- you want to start one, or if you are unsure about what to do or how to
- get started, please write to `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to reach the
- coordinator for all translator teams.
- The English team is special. It works at improving and uniformizing
- the terminology in use. Proven linguistic skill are praised more than
- programming skill, here.
- Available Packages
- ==================
- Languages are not equally supported in all packages. The following
- matrix shows the current state of internationalization, as of August
- 2002. The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which languages
- PO files have been submitted to translation coordination, with a
- translation percentage of at least 50%.
- Ready PO files be bg ca cs da de el en eo es et fi fr
- +----------------------------------------+
- a2ps | [] [] [] [] |
- ap-utils | |
- bash | [] [] [] [] |
- bfd | [] [] |
- binutils | [] [] |
- bison | [] [] [] [] |
- clisp | |
- clisp | [] [] [] [] |
- clisplow | |
- cpio | [] [] [] [] |
- darkstat | () |
- diffutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- enscript | [] [] |
- error | [] [] [] |
- fetchmail | [] () [] [] [] () |
- fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] |
- findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- flex | [] [] [] [] [] |
- gas | [] [] |
- gawk | [] [] [] |
- gcal | [] [] |
- gcc | [] [] |
- gettext | [] [] [] [] [] |
- gnupg | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- gprof | [] [] |
- gpsdrive | () () () () () |
- grep | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- gretl | [] |
- gthumb | () () () |
- hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- id-utils | [] [] [] |
- indent | [] [] [] [] [] |
- jpilot | () [] [] [] |
- jwhois | [] [] |
- kbd | [] [] [] |
- ld | [] [] |
- libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- libiconv | [] [] [] [] |
- lifelines | () () |
- lilypond | [] [] |
- lingoteach | [] [] |
- lingoteach_lessons| () () |
- lynx | [] [] [] [] [] |
- m4 | [] [] [] [] [] |
- make | [] [] [] [] |
- man-db | [] () () [] () () |
- mysecretdiary | [] [] [] |
- nano | [] () [] [] [] [] |
- nano_1_0 | [] () [] [] [] [] |
- opcodes | [] [] [] |
- parted | [] [] [] [] [] |
- ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- python | |
- recode | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- sh-utils | [] [] [] [] |
- sharutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- sketch | () [] () |
- soundtracker | [] [] [] |
- sp | [] |
- tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- texinfo | [] [] [] [] [] |
- textutils | [] [] [] [] [] |
- util-linux | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- vorbis-tools | [] |
- wastesedge | |
- wdiff | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- +----------------------------------------+
- be bg ca cs da de el en eo es et fi fr
- 0 2 19 10 30 44 9 1 12 44 17 6 53
-
- gl he hr hu id it ja ko lv nb nl nn
- +-------------------------------------+
- a2ps | () () [] |
- ap-utils | |
- bash | [] |
- bfd | [] |
- binutils | [] |
- bison | [] [] [] [] |
- clisp | |
- clisp | [] |
- clisplow | |
- cpio | [] [] [] [] |
- darkstat | |
- diffutils | [] [] [] [] [] |
- enscript | [] [] |
- error | [] |
- fetchmail | [] |
- fileutils | [] [] [] |
- findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- flex | [] |
- gas | |
- gawk | [] |
- gcal | |
- gcc | [] |
- gettext | [] [] |
- gnupg | [] [] [] [] |
- gprof | [] |
- gpsdrive | [] () () |
- grep | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- gretl | |
- gthumb | () () |
- hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- id-utils | [] [] |
- indent | [] [] [] [] |
- jpilot | () () |
- jwhois | [] [] |
- kbd | |
- ld | |
- libc | [] [] [] [] |
- libiconv | [] [] [] |
- lifelines | |
- lilypond | [] |
- lingoteach | [] |
- lingoteach_lessons| |
- lynx | [] [] [] [] |
- m4 | [] [] [] [] |
- make | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- man-db | () () |
- mysecretdiary | [] |
- nano | [] [] [] [] |
- nano_1_0 | [] [] [] [] [] |
- opcodes | [] [] |
- parted | [] [] [] |
- ptx | [] [] [] [] [] |
- python | |
- recode | [] [] [] |
- sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- sh-utils | [] [] [] |
- sharutils | [] [] [] |
- sketch | () |
- soundtracker | [] [] |
- sp | |
- tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- texinfo | [] [] [] |
- textutils | [] [] [] [] |
- util-linux | () [] |
- vorbis-tools | [] |
- wastesedge | |
- wdiff | [] [] [] |
- wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
- +-------------------------------------+
- gl he hr hu id it ja ko lv nb nl nn
- 23 9 12 19 16 13 26 9 1 7 19 3
-
- no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr uk zh_CN zh_TW
- +----------------------------------------------+
- a2ps | () () () [] [] [] [] [] | 10
- ap-utils | () | 0
- bash | [] | 6
- bfd | [] [] | 5
- binutils | [] [] | 5
- bison | [] [] [] [] | 12
- clisp | | 0
- clisp | | 5
- clisplow | | 0
- cpio | [] [] [] [] | 12
- darkstat | [] [] () () | 2
- diffutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 17
- enscript | [] [] [] [] | 8
- error | [] [] [] | 7
- fetchmail | () () [] | 6
- fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 14
- findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 21
- flex | [] [] [] | 9
- gas | [] | 3
- gawk | [] [] | 6
- gcal | [] [] | 4
- gcc | [] | 4
- gettext | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 13
- gnupg | [] [] [] | 14
- gprof | [] [] | 5
- gpsdrive | [] [] | 3
- grep | [] [] [] [] [] | 20
- gretl | | 1
- gthumb | () () [] | 1
- hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 28
- id-utils | [] [] [] [] | 9
- indent | [] [] [] [] [] | 14
- jpilot | () () [] [] | 5
- jwhois | [] () () [] [] | 7
- kbd | [] [] | 5
- ld | [] [] | 4
- libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 18
- libiconv | [] [] [] [] [] | 12
- lifelines | [] | 1
- lilypond | [] | 4
- lingoteach | [] [] | 5
- lingoteach_lessons| () | 0
- lynx | [] [] [] [] | 13
- m4 | [] [] [] [] | 13
- make | [] [] [] [] [] | 15
- man-db | | 3
- mysecretdiary | [] [] [] | 7
- nano | [] [] [] [] | 13
- nano_1_0 | [] [] [] [] | 14
- opcodes | [] [] [] | 8
- parted | [] [] [] [] | 12
- ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 19
- python | | 0
- recode | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 15
- sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 24
- sh-utils | [] [] | 9
- sharutils | [] [] [] [] | 14
- sketch | [] () [] | 4
- soundtracker | [] | 6
- sp | | 1
- tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 19
- texinfo | [] [] | 10
- textutils | [] [] [] [] [] | 14
- util-linux | [] [] [] | 10
- vorbis-tools | [] | 3
- wastesedge | | 0
- wdiff | [] [] [] [] [] | 14
- wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 24
- +----------------------------------------------+
- 37 teams no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr uk zh_CN zh_TW
- 68 domains 4 15 2 28 28 12 10 49 43 4 1 9 609
- Some counters in the preceding matrix are higher than the number of
- visible blocks let us expect. This is because a few extra PO files are
- used for implementing regional variants of languages, or language
- dialects.
- For a PO file in the matrix above to be effective, the package to
- which it applies should also have been internationalized and
- distributed as such by its maintainer. There might be an observable
- lag between the mere existence a PO file and its wide availability in a
- distribution.
- If August 2002 seems to be old, you may fetch a more recent copy of
- this `ABOUT-NLS' file on most GNU archive sites. The most up-to-date
- matrix with full percentage details can be found at
- `http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/matrix.html'.
- Using `gettext' in new packages
- ===============================
- If you are writing a freely available program and want to
- internationalize it you are welcome to use GNU `gettext' in your
- package. Of course you have to respect the GNU Library General Public
- License which covers the use of the GNU `gettext' library. This means
- in particular that even non-free programs can use `libintl' as a shared
- library, whereas only free software can use `libintl' as a static
- library or use modified versions of `libintl'.
- Once the sources are changed appropriately and the setup can handle
- to use of `gettext' the only thing missing are the translations. The
- Free Translation Project is also available for packages which are not
- developed inside the GNU project. Therefore the information given above
- applies also for every other Free Software Project. Contact
- `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to make the `.pot' files available to
- the translation teams.