| 1 | Notes on the Free Translation Project |
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| 2 | ************************************* |
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| 3 | |
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| 4 | Free software is going international! The Free Translation Project |
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| 5 | is a way to get maintainers of free software, translators, and users all |
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| 6 | together, so that will gradually become able to speak many languages. |
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| 7 | A few packages already provide translations for their messages. |
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| 8 | |
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| 9 | If you found this `ABOUT-NLS' file inside a distribution, you may |
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| 10 | assume that the distributed package does use GNU `gettext' internally, |
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| 11 | itself available at your nearest GNU archive site. But you do _not_ |
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| 12 | need to install GNU `gettext' prior to configuring, installing or using |
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| 13 | this package with messages translated. |
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| 14 | |
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| 15 | Installers will find here some useful hints. These notes also |
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| 16 | explain how users should proceed for getting the programs to use the |
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| 17 | available translations. They tell how people wanting to contribute and |
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| 18 | work at translations should contact the appropriate team. |
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| 19 | |
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| 20 | When reporting bugs in the `intl/' directory or bugs which may be |
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| 21 | related to internationalization, you should tell about the version of |
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| 22 | `gettext' which is used. The information can be found in the |
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| 23 | `intl/VERSION' file, in internationalized packages. |
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| 24 | |
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| 25 | Quick configuration advice |
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| 26 | ========================== |
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| 27 | |
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| 28 | If you want to exploit the full power of internationalization, you |
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| 29 | should configure it using |
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| 30 | |
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| 31 | ./configure --with-included-gettext |
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| 32 | |
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| 33 | to force usage of internationalizing routines provided within this |
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| 34 | package, despite the existence of internationalizing capabilities in the |
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| 35 | operating system where this package is being installed. So far, only |
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| 36 | the `gettext' implementation in the GNU C library version 2 provides as |
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| 37 | many features (such as locale alias, message inheritance, automatic |
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| 38 | charset conversion or plural form handling) as the implementation here. |
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| 39 | It is also not possible to offer this additional functionality on top |
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| 40 | of a `catgets' implementation. Future versions of GNU `gettext' will |
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| 41 | very likely convey even more functionality. So it might be a good idea |
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| 42 | to change to GNU `gettext' as soon as possible. |
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| 43 | |
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| 44 | So you need _not_ provide this option if you are using GNU libc 2 or |
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| 45 | you have installed a recent copy of the GNU gettext package with the |
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| 46 | included `libintl'. |
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| 47 | |
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| 48 | INSTALL Matters |
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| 49 | =============== |
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| 50 | |
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| 51 | Some packages are "localizable" when properly installed; the |
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| 52 | programs they contain can be made to speak your own native language. |
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| 53 | Most such packages use GNU `gettext'. Other packages have their own |
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| 54 | ways to internationalization, predating GNU `gettext'. |
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| 55 | |
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| 56 | By default, this package will be installed to allow translation of |
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| 57 | messages. It will automatically detect whether the system already |
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| 58 | provides the GNU `gettext' functions. If not, the GNU `gettext' own |
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| 59 | library will be used. This library is wholly contained within this |
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| 60 | package, usually in the `intl/' subdirectory, so prior installation of |
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| 61 | the GNU `gettext' package is _not_ required. Installers may use |
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| 62 | special options at configuration time for changing the default |
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| 63 | behaviour. The commands: |
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| 64 | |
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| 65 | ./configure --with-included-gettext |
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| 66 | ./configure --disable-nls |
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| 67 | |
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| 68 | will respectively bypass any pre-existing `gettext' to use the |
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| 69 | internationalizing routines provided within this package, or else, |
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| 70 | _totally_ disable translation of messages. |
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| 71 | |
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| 72 | When you already have GNU `gettext' installed on your system and run |
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| 73 | configure without an option for your new package, `configure' will |
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| 74 | probably detect the previously built and installed `libintl.a' file and |
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| 75 | will decide to use this. This might be not what is desirable. You |
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| 76 | should use the more recent version of the GNU `gettext' library. I.e. |
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| 77 | if the file `intl/VERSION' shows that the library which comes with this |
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| 78 | package is more recent, you should use |
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| 79 | |
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| 80 | ./configure --with-included-gettext |
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| 81 | |
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| 82 | to prevent auto-detection. |
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| 83 | |
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| 84 | The configuration process will not test for the `catgets' function |
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| 85 | and therefore it will not be used. The reason is that even an |
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| 86 | emulation of `gettext' on top of `catgets' could not provide all the |
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| 87 | extensions of the GNU `gettext' library. |
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| 88 | |
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| 89 | Internationalized packages have usually many `po/LL.po' files, where |
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| 90 | LL gives an ISO 639 two-letter code identifying the language. Unless |
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| 91 | translations have been forbidden at `configure' time by using the |
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| 92 | `--disable-nls' switch, all available translations are installed |
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| 93 | together with the package. However, the environment variable `LINGUAS' |
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| 94 | may be set, prior to configuration, to limit the installed set. |
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| 95 | `LINGUAS' should then contain a space separated list of two-letter |
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| 96 | codes, stating which languages are allowed. |
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| 97 | |
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| 98 | Using This Package |
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| 99 | ================== |
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| 100 | |
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| 101 | As a user, if your language has been installed for this package, you |
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| 102 | only have to set the `LANG' environment variable to the appropriate |
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| 103 | `LL_CC' combination. Here `LL' is an ISO 639 two-letter language code, |
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| 104 | and `CC' is an ISO 3166 two-letter country code. For example, let's |
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| 105 | suppose that you speak German and live in Germany. At the shell |
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| 106 | prompt, merely execute `setenv LANG de_DE' (in `csh'), |
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| 107 | `export LANG; LANG=de_DE' (in `sh') or `export LANG=de_DE' (in `bash'). |
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| 108 | This can be done from your `.login' or `.profile' file, once and for |
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| 109 | all. |
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| 110 | |
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| 111 | You might think that the country code specification is redundant. |
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| 112 | But in fact, some languages have dialects in different countries. For |
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| 113 | example, `de_AT' is used for Austria, and `pt_BR' for Brazil. The |
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| 114 | country code serves to distinguish the dialects. |
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| 115 | |
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| 116 | Not all programs have translations for all languages. By default, an |
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| 117 | English message is shown in place of a nonexistent translation. If you |
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| 118 | understand other languages, you can set up a priority list of languages. |
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| 119 | This is done through a different environment variable, called |
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| 120 | `LANGUAGE'. GNU `gettext' gives preference to `LANGUAGE' over `LANG' |
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| 121 | for the purpose of message handling, but you still need to have `LANG' |
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| 122 | set to the primary language; this is required by other parts of the |
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| 123 | system libraries. For example, some Swedish users who would rather |
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| 124 | read translations in German than English for when Swedish is not |
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| 125 | available, set `LANGUAGE' to `sv:de' while leaving `LANG' to `sv_SE'. |
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| 126 | |
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| 127 | In the `LANGUAGE' environment variable, but not in the `LANG' |
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| 128 | environment variable, `LL_CC' combinations can be abbreviated as `LL' |
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| 129 | to denote the language's main dialect. For example, `de' is equivalent |
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| 130 | to `de_DE' (German as spoken in Germany), and `pt' to `pt_PT' |
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| 131 | (Portuguese as spoken in Portugal) in this context. |
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| 132 | |
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| 133 | Translating Teams |
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| 134 | ================= |
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| 135 | |
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| 136 | For the Free Translation Project to be a success, we need interested |
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| 137 | people who like their own language and write it well, and who are also |
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| 138 | able to synergize with other translators speaking the same language. |
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| 139 | Each translation team has its own mailing list. The up-to-date list of |
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| 140 | teams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage, |
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| 141 | `http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/', in the "National teams" |
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| 142 | area. |
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| 143 | |
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| 144 | If you'd like to volunteer to _work_ at translating messages, you |
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| 145 | should become a member of the translating team for your own language. |
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| 146 | The subscribing address is _not_ the same as the list itself, it has |
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| 147 | `-request' appended. For example, speakers of Swedish can send a |
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| 148 | message to `sv-request@li.org', having this message body: |
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| 149 | |
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| 150 | subscribe |
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| 151 | |
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| 152 | Keep in mind that team members are expected to participate |
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| 153 | _actively_ in translations, or at solving translational difficulties, |
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| 154 | rather than merely lurking around. If your team does not exist yet and |
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| 155 | you want to start one, or if you are unsure about what to do or how to |
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| 156 | get started, please write to `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to reach the |
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| 157 | coordinator for all translator teams. |
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| 158 | |
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| 159 | The English team is special. It works at improving and uniformizing |
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| 160 | the terminology in use. Proven linguistic skill are praised more than |
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| 161 | programming skill, here. |
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| 162 | |
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| 163 | Available Packages |
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| 164 | ================== |
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| 165 | |
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| 166 | Languages are not equally supported in all packages. The following |
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| 167 | matrix shows the current state of internationalization, as of July |
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| 168 | 2001. The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which languages |
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| 169 | PO files have been submitted to translation coordination, with a |
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| 170 | translation percentage of at least 50%. |
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| 171 | |
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| 172 | Ready PO files bg cs da de el en eo es et fi fr gl he hr id it |
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| 173 | +-------------------------------------------------+ |
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| 174 | a2ps | [] [] | |
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| 175 | bash | [] [] [] [] | |
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| 176 | bfd | | |
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| 177 | binutils | | |
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| 178 | bison | [] [] [] [] | |
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| 179 | clisp | [] [] [] [] | |
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| 180 | cpio | [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 181 | diffutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 182 | enscript | [] [] | |
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| 183 | error | [] [] | |
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| 184 | fetchmail | | |
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| 185 | fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 186 | findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 187 | flex | [] [] [] | |
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| 188 | freetype | | |
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| 189 | gas | | |
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| 190 | gawk | [] | |
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| 191 | gcal | | |
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| 192 | gcc | | |
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| 193 | gettext | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 194 | gnupg | [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 195 | gprof | | |
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| 196 | grep | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 197 | hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 198 | id-utils | [] [] [] | |
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| 199 | indent | [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 200 | jpilot | [] | |
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| 201 | kbd | | |
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| 202 | ld | | |
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| 203 | libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 204 | lilypond | | |
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| 205 | lynx | [] [] [] | |
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| 206 | m4 | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 207 | make | [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 208 | nano | [] [] | |
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| 209 | opcodes | | |
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| 210 | parted | [] [] | |
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| 211 | ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 212 | python | | |
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| 213 | recode | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 214 | sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 215 | sh-utils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 216 | sharutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 217 | soundtracker | [] | |
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| 218 | sp | | |
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| 219 | tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 220 | texinfo | [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 221 | textutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 222 | util-linux | [] [] | |
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| 223 | wdiff | [] [] | |
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| 224 | wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | |
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| 225 | +-------------------------------------------------+ |
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| 226 | bg cs da de el en eo es et fi fr gl he hr id it |
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| 227 | 0 13 23 30 11 1 8 21 13 1 29 22 3 0 8 10 |
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| 228 | |
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| 229 | ja ko lv nl no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr uk zh |
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| 230 | +-------------------------------------------------+ |
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| 231 | a2ps | [] [] [] | 5 |
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| 232 | bash | | 4 |
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| 233 | bfd | | 0 |
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| 234 | binutils | | 0 |
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| 235 | bison | [] [] [] | 7 |
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| 236 | clisp | [] | 5 |
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| 237 | cpio | [] [] [] [] [] | 10 |
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| 238 | diffutils | [] [] [] | 10 |
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| 239 | enscript | [] [] [] | 5 |
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| 240 | error | [] | 3 |
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| 241 | fetchmail | | 0 |
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| 242 | fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 17 |
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| 243 | findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16 |
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| 244 | flex | [] [] [] | 6 |
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| 245 | freetype | | 0 |
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| 246 | gas | | 0 |
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| 247 | gawk | [] | 2 |
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| 248 | gcal | | 0 |
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| 249 | gcc | | 0 |
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| 250 | gettext | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 18 |
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| 251 | gnupg | [] [] [] [] | 10 |
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| 252 | gprof | | 0 |
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| 253 | grep | [] [] [] | 10 |
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| 254 | hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 21 |
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| 255 | id-utils | [] [] [] | 6 |
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| 256 | indent | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 12 |
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| 257 | jpilot | | 1 |
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| 258 | kbd | [] | 1 |
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| 259 | ld | | 0 |
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| 260 | libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 17 |
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| 261 | lilypond | [] [] | 2 |
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| 262 | lynx | [] [] [] [] [] | 8 |
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| 263 | m4 | [] [] [] [] [] | 12 |
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| 264 | make | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 12 |
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| 265 | nano | [] | 3 |
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| 266 | opcodes | | 0 |
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| 267 | parted | [] [] [] | 5 |
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| 268 | ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 14 |
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| 269 | python | | 0 |
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| 270 | recode | [] [] [] [] | 13 |
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| 271 | sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 18 |
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| 272 | sh-utils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 20 |
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| 273 | sharutils | [] [] [] [] | 11 |
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| 274 | soundtracker | | 1 |
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| 275 | sp | | 0 |
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| 276 | tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 17 |
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| 277 | texinfo | [] [] | 7 |
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| 278 | textutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 15 |
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| 279 | util-linux | [] [] | 4 |
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| 280 | wdiff | [] [] [] | 5 |
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| 281 | wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16 |
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| 282 | +-------------------------------------------------+ |
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| 283 | 31 teams ja ko lv nl no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr uk zh |
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| 284 | 51 domains 17 9 1 23 6 17 1 13 26 9 11 20 19 2 2 369 |
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| 285 | |
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| 286 | Some counters in the preceding matrix are higher than the number of |
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| 287 | visible blocks let us expect. This is because a few extra PO files are |
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| 288 | used for implementing regional variants of languages, or language |
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| 289 | dialects. |
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| 290 | |
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| 291 | For a PO file in the matrix above to be effective, the package to |
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| 292 | which it applies should also have been internationalized and |
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| 293 | distributed as such by its maintainer. There might be an observable |
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| 294 | lag between the mere existence a PO file and its wide availability in a |
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| 295 | distribution. |
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| 296 | |
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| 297 | If July 2001 seems to be old, you may fetch a more recent copy of |
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| 298 | this `ABOUT-NLS' file on most GNU archive sites. The most up-to-date |
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| 299 | matrix with full percentage details can be found at |
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| 300 | `http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/matrix.html'. |
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| 301 | |
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| 302 | Using `gettext' in new packages |
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| 303 | =============================== |
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| 304 | |
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| 305 | If you are writing a freely available program and want to |
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| 306 | internationalize it you are welcome to use GNU `gettext' in your |
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| 307 | package. Of course the GNU General Public License applies to your |
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| 308 | sources from then on if you include `gettext' directly in your |
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| 309 | distribution but since you are writing free software anyway this is no |
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| 310 | restriction. |
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| 311 | |
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| 312 | Once the sources are changed appropriately and the setup can handle |
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| 313 | to use of `gettext' the only thing missing are the translations. The |
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| 314 | Free Translation Project is also available for packages which are not |
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| 315 | developed inside the GNU project. Therefore the information given above |
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| 316 | applies also for every other Free Software Project. Contact |
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| 317 | `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to make the `.pot' files available to |
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| 318 | the translation teams. |
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| 319 | |
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