Hello Robert, of course, the gettext-library is the same for PHP and C. When it comes to the translation of third-party software, like postgresql, I am somewhat skeptical if it would be worthwhile to translate their error-texts, OTOH I believe they are established applications which should be localized already!? Nevertheless when it comes to error-handling, we run into several problems, or challenges, as we say today. First: If the error-texts are translated, any user has a hard time to find it in the manual. And, oops, the manual needs to be translated, too, and in accord with the software!Next problem: I think we should _not_ translate license texts, because this might raise severe legal questions. I guess no one, who can not understand the English language can analyze license texts in the first place or will be appointed to do so. The only thing we can do, and I believe that's the way to go (as a first step), is to translate the UI, so as to lower the barrier for new users, thus to make it 'friendlier'. It is my impression that OSS will gain more and more momentum in Germany and one hurdle are the difficulties in understanding the legal implications of FOSS. I think that a simply localized FOSSology interface will attract 'pointy-haired' types of people (no offence ment), allowing developers to get OSS software into their company. ;-)
My first idea was to add i18n as another plugin, that can be installed as an add-on. But after digging more deeply into the subject I think it's easier to support it from the start. I wish to make one point clear: When a new release is scheduled and the new texts, that were added, are not translated, this is IMHO a real usability bug. There is nothing more irritating than text intermixed with two languages. Who hasn't seen dialogs like: Do you want to save? Oui / Non Gettext makes adding translations really easy. But the translations _must be done_ or you get a patchwork of original and translated texts. Therefore the developers must be sensitive to this topic and add the gettext _() markers with discipline. And yes! I'd like to contribute to your project. The first step would be to add the _() markers to all texts that are visible in the UI. This would not have any impact on the functionality. There are Perl-scripts out there to do this automagically. Second, we could begin with translation. Perhaps we could setup Launchpad for this, but I am not sure about this. I used it once to contribute translations for Ubuntu. It seems to be a rather comfortable and advanced interface for adding translations with the ability to import translated strings from other OSS projects. Personally I want to propose the following: I am going to switch the PHP-code in the plugins-dir to make it gettext aware and then I will send you the files (or diffs if you prefer) and you check it for sanity. If you approve you can add me to the SVN commiters and I will check in the files on my own. There is one more decision to make: Should the text be translated automatically (like http://www.debian.org/) based on the language selection in the browser or do we want to offer icons to switch the language manually!? Merry christmas,Stefan Schroeder
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