Translation of program names

[Danilo Segan <dsegan gmx net>]

All this discussion in desktop-devel-list of freedesktop .desktop file  
specs, and usage of different names for applications, reminded me of a  
question I wanted to ask for a long time.

So, I'm wondering what's the opinion of both translators and hackers  
about having their program names translated (or at least leaving that  
option to translators)?


Lengthy background story:

As we all know, names of programs are there not only for recognition,  
but to entertain, excite and amuse (as Jeff pointed out). In most of  
those cases, all of this is lost if we keep the names in original  
(English) language.

For instance, there's a fine relation between navigator, explorer,  
conqueror (Konqueror), galleon (Galeon) and epiphany. If you're not  
familiar with English language, it's really hard to notice it.  
Actually, it's hard to notice it even if you're somewhat familiar with  
English ;-)

The same is with all the Gnome apps (which I'm actually translating; I  
have no power over KDE translations). For instance, a word "gnom" is  
used in Serbian language to represent a gnome. So, instead of keeping  
up with the silly abbreviation GNOME (Gnu is Not Unix Network Object  
Model Environment ;-), or even Gtk (Gnu is Not Unix Image Manipulation  
Program Tool Kit; this one is more interesting though), I like to use  
just "Gnom", and "Gtk". This means that I just write them with cyrillic  
script, and that I have no problem with declinations:
- with Gnomom
- from Gnoma
- in Gnomu
etc.

Of course, this loses the relation to the original abbreviation, but I  
find it much better to be able to relate 'gnom' to the footprint of our  
beloved gnome, than to relate it to 'network object model  
environment' (it's still related to 'gnu' through the starting 'g' and  
even 'gn'). So, translators are capable of maintaining the basic ideas  
behind naming conventions (so, most of Gnome apps have 'g' in front,  
and they're well aware that it should be preserved), but still make a  
name much more fun. Of course, this means that we'll sometimes get a  
funny translation for dull original name, or a dull translation for  
funny original name. But since there is no two-sided inverse map  
between languages, this is normal.

Unfortunately, most of the apps don't provide option to translate their  
names completely. This sucks, especially since roman alphabet is not  
neccessary for understanding many languages. Because of that, there's  
even a grammatical rule in Serbian that when using cyrillic, all  
foreign names are transliterated (so Jeff would become Џеф) according  
to their pronounciation.

Still, since most program names have a meaning, I think it's way better  
to translate them, rather than transliterate them. So, I have  
"Spoznaja" for Epiphany. The same for "Evolution" which becomes  
"Evolucija" (not a great difference per se, but really cleans up the  
translation because of declinations, and possibility to write it with  
cyrillic script).

Similarly, for "Pybliographer", I use the name "Pibliotekar" (because  
python is "piton", and "bibliotekar" is "librarian"; not really the  
same as "bibliographer", but close enough).

As another example, I like to translate "bugzilla" as  
"bubzdaja" (azdaja is Serbian for 'dragon' or 'godzilla', and "buba" is  
a bug ;-). Many have found this word real interesting and funny, and it  
doesn't lose any of the original meaning ;-)

I must admit that there are even many translators who are not ready to  
pass the amusement of original names, and I'm really sorry about that.  
For anyone using English as a first language, 'Epiphany' or 'Rhytmbox'  
is as exciting for Serbian fellows as 'Spoznaja' or 'Ritam kutija' is  
for you (actually, this is probably more exciting for you, because  
you're not used to seing names of programs which you don't  
understand :-P). You'll probably just learn to recognize software by  
that name, but you won't understand a bit, and you won't appreciate the  
story behind the name. Which mostly doesn't matter, but sometimes is a  
real shame.


Sure, there's a problem that someone might appear on the #gnome asking  
about 'Spoznaja' which noone else ever heard about, but every major bug  
might (should?) be reported through Bug-buddy (yeah, there's a  
translation for this name too ;-), and the name of the executable can  
be used as a key (as a matter of fact, there are many apps where  
executable names have little to do with application names). Actually, I  
think it's better to have a button 'report bug for Epiphany', than to  
force user to go through bugzilla and search for the product 'epiphany' (not  
to mention that some modules have completely different names in CVS,  
bugzilla and their "real" name).

So, I believe the value of translating program names is greater than  
the loss. Especially so with free software, because it doesn't have to  
worry about 'trademark infridgement', 'intellectual property' and stuff  
like that -- you provide great software, give it a great name, why not  
let everyone understand it?

I'm looking forward to different opinions on this, and of course,  
support for translating program names (this means that you won't use  
eg. GETTEXT_PACKAGE in user visible strings).


(Of course, none of this applies to 'generic names', because 'web  
browser' is always translated; still, I don't think it's nice to have  
'Epiphany Web Browser' where only the 'web browser' part is  
translatable.)

Cheers,
Danilo