Re: Updating po files on make dist

[Miloslav Trmac <mitr volny cz>]

Hello,
On Fri, May 23, 2003 at 08:49:32PM +0200, Christian Rose wrote:
> > > You have to know this backup exists, especially since it's a hidden
> > > file... I remember looking for such a thing, but didn't think to look
> > > for a hidden file ;)
> >
> > So, fix cvs(1) :-)
> 
> You're joking, right?
> Otherwise I don't understand why we should try to go through the pains
> of getting the behavior of cvs changed in order to make the symptoms of
> the problem easier to cope with, rather than fixing the root of the
> problem, which is make dist and a thing that we from a GNOME side of
> things can much easier fix. Should be obvious to anyone which thing is
> both better in the long run to fix *and* easier to fix.
I don't think it is that obvious that shipping current files instead
of updated ones is a problem.

> Also, from a GTP perspective, I believe that it is in our interest to
> make the entry barrier for volunteering translators lower, so as to get
> more contributing translators, translations for more languages, and more
> complete translations. We still have a lot of room for improvement in
> those areas.
The entry barrier argument cuts both ways. If you have very limited
access to the Internet (which might be very rare nowadays, but
there are translators working on *many* languages), it might be
advantageous to get the .po files from e.g. CDs in computer magazines.
In that case, you want the .po files to be accurate so that the
translators can just start translating without having to
intltool-update.

> Thus, not requiring translators to have anything but the 
> most basic knowledge of cvs when they start contributing to cvs is a
> natural consequence of that, especially since we can expect some
> translators to be more fluent with languages than with deeper technical
> tools and issues.
You don't need that much knowledge of CVS. If the team members know
who is working on which package, you can just commit your translation
regardless of the updates because you know they are not translation
fixes.
 
> With time, contributors ususally get more familiar with cvs, but how cvs
> works in every detail is not a trivial thing to grasp right from the
> start. In particular not the behavior when there is a conflict, with the
> file you worked on having its content altered to neither be the content
> of what's in cvs nor the content you entered, but rather something
> inbetween with cryptic cvs diff syntax, and that in addition makes an
> invalid po file. Neither does it help the intuitiveness that the content
> you entered has instead been placed in a hidden file with mostly
> unhelpful, cryptic naming.
If the translators can handle intltool-update and format strings
(including the %1$ syntax), they surely can handle this too. All it
needs is a bit of documentation.
	Mirek