Re: Translation of program names

[Danilo Segan <dsegan gmx net>]

Дана петак, 31. октобар 2003. 09:30:07 CET, Xavier Bestel написа:
> Well, when they want to install the package 'Spoznaja' and they only
> see 'Epiphany' in the list, they'll be troubled.

Certainly, but many distributions support localization even in the  
setup software. That should't be a problem to "fix". Though, they  
should install it when they select 'Gnome desktop' ;-)

> Yes, I think you have a point. Perhaps you should poll your users  
> (the users of your translations) to weight pros/cons correctly ?

Actually, just like in here, there are some who think this is a good  
thing, and others who think it sucks. It's just about priorities: some  
care more about the English names, some about translations. It simply  
depends on a lot of things.

But, the problem I am having right now is that developers are not even  
allowing translators to try to translate software name (in a recent  
message to this list, I noticed that _Name=Rhythmbox was changed to  
Name=Rhythmbox, meaning, it's not possible to translate it anymore).  
So, since it doesn't seem like everyone is strictly opposed to the  
idea, I believe translators should be the ones to decide.

I'm not asking for a definite answer 'yeah, do translate them', because  
I'm not myself sure that it's the right thing. It's just that I want to  
have a chance to decide on a per application basis, because in most  
cases, there would be no confusion at all.

That means that there should be a programming guideline to make all  
names "translatable" (or "gettextized"). This is what I am asking for.
What rule will translators use is entirely different thing. I just  
point out that there *is* basis for any of the paths.

Cheers,
Danilo