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1	Notes on the Free Translation Project
2	*************************************
3
4	Free software is going international! The Free Translation Project
5	is a way to get maintainers of free software, translators, and users all
6	together, so that will gradually become able to speak many languages.
7	A few packages already provide translations for their messages.
8
9	If you found this `ABOUT-NLS' file inside a distribution, you may
10	assume that the distributed package does use GNU `gettext' internally,
11	itself available at your nearest GNU archive site. But you do _not_
12	need to install GNU `gettext' prior to configuring, installing or using
13	this package with messages translated.
14
15	Installers will find here some useful hints. These notes also
16	explain how users should proceed for getting the programs to use the
17	available translations. They tell how people wanting to contribute and
18	work at translations should contact the appropriate team.
19
20	When reporting bugs in the `intl/' directory or bugs which may be
21	related 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
25	Quick configuration advice
26	==========================
27
28	If you want to exploit the full power of internationalization, you
29	should configure it using
30
31	./configure --with-included-gettext
32
33	to force usage of internationalizing routines provided within this
34	package, despite the existence of internationalizing capabilities in the
35	operating system where this package is being installed. So far, only
36	the `gettext' implementation in the GNU C library version 2 provides as
37	many features (such as locale alias, message inheritance, automatic
38	charset conversion or plural form handling) as the implementation here.
39	It is also not possible to offer this additional functionality on top
40	of a `catgets' implementation. Future versions of GNU `gettext' will
41	very likely convey even more functionality. So it might be a good idea
42	to 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
45	you have installed a recent copy of the GNU gettext package with the
46	included `libintl'.
47
48	INSTALL Matters
49	===============
50
51	Some packages are "localizable" when properly installed; the
52	programs they contain can be made to speak your own native language.
53	Most such packages use GNU `gettext'. Other packages have their own
54	ways to internationalization, predating GNU `gettext'.
55
56	By default, this package will be installed to allow translation of
57	messages. It will automatically detect whether the system already
58	provides the GNU `gettext' functions. If not, the GNU `gettext' own
59	library will be used. This library is wholly contained within this
60	package, usually in the `intl/' subdirectory, so prior installation of
61	the GNU `gettext' package is _not_ required. Installers may use
62	special options at configuration time for changing the default
63	behaviour. The commands:
64
65	./configure --with-included-gettext
66	./configure --disable-nls
67
68	will respectively bypass any pre-existing `gettext' to use the
69	internationalizing 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
73	configure without an option for your new package, `configure' will
74	probably detect the previously built and installed `libintl.a' file and
75	will decide to use this. This might be not what is desirable. You
76	should use the more recent version of the GNU `gettext' library. I.e.
77	if the file `intl/VERSION' shows that the library which comes with this
78	package is more recent, you should use
79
80	./configure --with-included-gettext
81
82	to prevent auto-detection.
83
84	The configuration process will not test for the `catgets' function
85	and therefore it will not be used. The reason is that even an
86	emulation of `gettext' on top of `catgets' could not provide all the
87	extensions of the GNU `gettext' library.
88
89	Internationalized packages have usually many `po/LL.po' files, where
90	LL gives an ISO 639 two-letter code identifying the language. Unless
91	translations have been forbidden at `configure' time by using the
92	`--disable-nls' switch, all available translations are installed
93	together with the package. However, the environment variable `LINGUAS'
94	may be set, prior to configuration, to limit the installed set.
95	`LINGUAS' should then contain a space separated list of two-letter
96	codes, stating which languages are allowed.
97
98	Using This Package
99	==================
100
101	As a user, if your language has been installed for this package, you
102	only have to set the `LANG' environment variable to the appropriate
103	`LL_CC' combination. Here `LL' is an ISO 639 two-letter language code,
104	and `CC' is an ISO 3166 two-letter country code. For example, let's
105	suppose that you speak German and live in Germany. At the shell
106	prompt, merely execute `setenv LANG de_DE' (in `csh'),
107	`export LANG; LANG=de_DE' (in `sh') or `export LANG=de_DE' (in `bash').
108	This can be done from your `.login' or `.profile' file, once and for
109	all.
110
111	You might think that the country code specification is redundant.
112	But in fact, some languages have dialects in different countries. For
113	example, `de_AT' is used for Austria, and `pt_BR' for Brazil. The
114	country code serves to distinguish the dialects.
115
116	Not all programs have translations for all languages. By default, an
117	English message is shown in place of a nonexistent translation. If you
118	understand other languages, you can set up a priority list of languages.
119	This is done through a different environment variable, called
120	`LANGUAGE'. GNU `gettext' gives preference to `LANGUAGE' over `LANG'
121	for the purpose of message handling, but you still need to have `LANG'
122	set to the primary language; this is required by other parts of the
123	system libraries. For example, some Swedish users who would rather
124	read translations in German than English for when Swedish is not
125	available, set `LANGUAGE' to `sv:de' while leaving `LANG' to `sv_SE'.
126
127	In the `LANGUAGE' environment variable, but not in the `LANG'
128	environment variable, `LL_CC' combinations can be abbreviated as `LL'
129	to denote the language's main dialect. For example, `de' is equivalent
130	to `de_DE' (German as spoken in Germany), and `pt' to `pt_PT'
131	(Portuguese as spoken in Portugal) in this context.
132
133	Translating Teams
134	=================
135
136	For the Free Translation Project to be a success, we need interested
137	people who like their own language and write it well, and who are also
138	able to synergize with other translators speaking the same language.
139	Each translation team has its own mailing list. The up-to-date list of
140	teams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage,
141	`http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/', in the "National teams"
142	area.
143
144	If you'd like to volunteer to _work_ at translating messages, you
145	should become a member of the translating team for your own language.
146	The subscribing address is _not_ the same as the list itself, it has
147	`-request' appended. For example, speakers of Swedish can send a
148	message 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,
154	rather than merely lurking around. If your team does not exist yet and
155	you want to start one, or if you are unsure about what to do or how to
156	get started, please write to `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to reach the
157	coordinator for all translator teams.
158
159	The English team is special. It works at improving and uniformizing
160	the terminology in use. Proven linguistic skill are praised more than
161	programming skill, here.
162
163	Available Packages
164	==================
165
166	Languages are not equally supported in all packages. The following
167	matrix shows the current state of internationalization, as of May 2001.
168	The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which languages PO
169	files have been submitted to translation coordination, with a
170	translation percentage of at least 50%.
171
172	Ready PO files bg cs da de el en eo es et fi fr gl hr id it
173	+----------------------------------------------+
174	a2ps \| [] [] \|
175	bash \| [] [] [] [] \|
176	bison \| [] [] [] [] \|
177	clisp \| [] [] [] [] \|
178	cpio \| [] [] [] [] \|
179	diffutils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
180	enscript \| [] [] \|
181	error \| [] \|
182	fileutils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
183	findutils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
184	flex \| [] [] [] \|
185	gawk \| \|
186	gcal \| \|
187	gcc \| [] \|
188	gettext \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
189	gnupg \| [] [] [] [] [] \|
190	grep \| [] [] [] \|
191	hello \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
192	id-utils \| [] [] \|
193	indent \| [] [] [] [] [] \|
194	libc \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
195	lilypond \| \|
196	lynx \| [] [] [] \|
197	m4 \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
198	make \| [] [] [] [] \|
199	parted \| [] [] \|
200	ptx \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
201	python \| \|
202	recode \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
203	sed \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
204	sh-utils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
205	sharutils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
206	soundtracker \| \|
207	sp \| \|
208	tar \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
209	texinfo \| [] [] [] [] \|
210	textutils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
211	util-linux \| [] \|
212	wdiff \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
213	wget \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \|
214	+----------------------------------------------+
215	bg cs da de el en eo es et fi fr gl hr id it
216	0 14 21 27 10 1 8 20 13 1 28 17 0 9 11
217
218	ja ko lv nl no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr zh
219	+----------------------------------------------+
220	a2ps \| [] [] [] \| 5
221	bash \| \| 4
222	bison \| [] [] [] \| 7
223	clisp \| [] \| 5
224	cpio \| [] [] [] [] [] \| 9
225	diffutils \| [] [] [] \| 10
226	enscript \| [] [] [] \| 5
227	error \| \| 1
228	fileutils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 16
229	findutils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 14
230	flex \| [] [] [] \| 6
231	gawk \| \| 0
232	gcal \| \| 0
233	gcc \| [] \| 2
234	gettext \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 19
235	gnupg \| [] [] [] \| 8
236	grep \| \| 3
237	hello \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 17
238	id-utils \| [] [] [] \| 5
239	indent \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 12
240	libc \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 15
241	lilypond \| [] \| 1
242	lynx \| [] [] [] [] [] \| 8
243	m4 \| [] [] [] [] [] \| 12
244	make \| [] [] [] [] [] \| 9
245	parted \| [] [] [] \| 5
246	ptx \| [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 13
247	python \| \| 0
248	recode \| [] [] [] \| 11
249	sed \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 16
250	sh-utils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 19
251	sharutils \| [] [] [] [] \| 11
252	soundtracker \| \| 0
253	sp \| \| 0
254	tar \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 16
255	texinfo \| [] [] \| 6
256	textutils \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 15
257	util-linux \| [] \| 2
258	wdiff \| [] [] [] [] [] \| 12
259	wget \| [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] \| 17
260	+----------------------------------------------+
261	29 teams ja ko lv nl no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr zh
262	40 domains 18 8 0 23 6 16 1 15 26 9 9 20 2 3 336
263
264	Some counters in the preceding matrix are higher than the number of
265	visible blocks let us expect. This is because a few extra PO files are
266	used for implementing regional variants of languages, or language
267	dialects.
268
269	For a PO file in the matrix above to be effective, the package to
270	which it applies should also have been internationalized and
271	distributed as such by its maintainer. There might be an observable
272	lag between the mere existence a PO file and its wide availability in a
273	distribution.
274
275	If May 2001 seems to be old, you may fetch a more recent copy of
276	this `ABOUT-NLS' file on most GNU archive sites. The most up-to-date
277	matrix with full percentage details can be found at
278	`http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/matrix.html'.
279
280	Using `gettext' in new packages
281	===============================
282
283	If you are writing a freely available program and want to
284	internationalize it you are welcome to use GNU `gettext' in your
285	package. Of course the GNU Public License applies to your sources from
286	then if you include `gettext' directly in your distribution on but
287	since you are writing free software anyway this is no restriction.
288
289	Once the sources are change appropriately and the setup can handle to
290	use of `gettext' the only thing missing are the translations. The Free
291	Translation Project is also available for packages which are not
292	developed inside the GNU project. Therefore the information given above
293	applies also for every other Free Software Project. Contact
294	`translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to make the `.pot' files available to
295	the translation teams.
296

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