[Mediawiki-i18n] [Wikitech-l] An update on localisation in MediaWiki

[Anders Wegge Jakobsen]

Anders Wegge Jakobsen <wegge at wegge.dk> writes:

 Six weeks ago I became involved in an argument about translation of
the mediawiki software. I made the comment below.

>  Yes, the obvious solution is that I maintain a private translation;
> at the same time one or more of the admins at dawiki plays catchup,
> whenever the inerface suddenly start sprouting english words, and the
> rest of the world get to see the worst of OSS. Everyone is happy.

 Unfortunately, it have proven to be true. No substantial changes to
the danish localization have happened since then. Since I have cooled
of a bit since then, and my prediction have proven true, I'll try to
summarize the problems with localization on translatewiki as I see
them:

* With the current setup, translators will need to access the code, to
  actually see what cryptical strings like 'You have not specified
  target revision or revi sions to perform this function on.' actually
  mean.

* That a web interface exists does not equal that a large horde of
  skilled translators will be attracted.

* Noone likes to see others credited with their work.

 This is not an attempt to renew a heated argument. The idea of
providing a relative easy-to-use interface for translation work is
better than having no one translating the interface into any
particular language. But in my opinion, it is not at present time a
substitute for having someone wit at least rudimentary PHP coding
skills doing the translation and submitting patches or direct commits
to svn.

 And yes, the issue of crediting work was what angered me most. It
still is, and unless I'm the one individual in the world with the
thinnest skin on this matter, this issue will arise again.

-- 
// Wegge
<http://geowiki.wegge.dk/wiki/Forside> - Alt om geocaching
Bruger du den gratis spamfighther ser jeg kun dine indlæg *EN* gang.

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.