Re: Names in .desktop files [wad: Use of the IM word in Empathy]

[Christian Rose <menthos gnome org>]

On 8/2/09, Luca Ferretti <elle uca libero it> wrote:
> 2009/8/2 Frederic Peters <fpeters gnome org>:
> >> In this case, the Name of the application is "Empathy", and its
>  >> "GenericName" could be "Instant Messenger".
>  >
>  > Btw, this is a question for translators, there is currently a proposal
>  > posted to freedesktop to enhance the spec with a new "FullName" key,
>  > as naively combining Name and GenericName wouldn't work in all
>  > languages; it would be quite helpful to have some concrete examples.
>
> I wrote a simillar proposal some time ago here[1]; the main difference
>  is that I suggested a programmatical approach to "build" the FullName.
>
>  From a i18n/l10n point of view, this could help to have homogeneus
>  FullNames. In fact, let me assume that you'll add a new FullName
>  property to .desktop file, such as
>
>   Name=GEdit
>   GenericName=Text Editor
>   FullName=GEdit Text Editor
>
>  and
>
>   Name=Transmission
>   GenericName=Bittorrent Client
>   FullName=Transmission Bittorrent Client
>
>  The actual translation of FullName key value will depend on single
>  translator, and could change within the same language, expecially for
>  translations of applications outside gnome.org. So you could have
>
>   FullName[it]=Editor di testo GEdit
>   (GenericName Name)
>
>   FullName[it]=Transmission - Client bittorrent
>   (Name - GenericName)
>
>  This could be really bad for usability :(
>  The programmatical approach will help to have the same layout for all
>  applications: just put a "%$1s %$2s" translatable message in glib or
>  gnome-menus and let translation team to pick up their preferred
>  localized layout.
>
>  My suggestion, if applicable, is to fix the usage of Name key in
>  desktop files from GNOME/Gtk+ apps and follow KDE approach, see [2].
>  Well, the "GenericName (Name)" default maybe is not the best :)
>
>
>  > For example, in French, it wouldn't be "Name + GenericName" (ex:
>  > "Rhythmbox" "Music Player") but "GenericName + Name" (ex: "Lecteur de
>  > musique" "Rhythmbox"), and that rule (afaik) would work in all cases.
>  >
>  > Would such a simple rule exist for all languages?
>
> In Italian language the "rule" is `GenericName Name`, but as
>  translation team we allowed to use `Name - GenericaName`. We choosed
>  this approach to highlitgh both the "branding" (Name) and the usage
>  (GenericName)
>
>  [1] http://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2008-March/msg00325.html
>  [2] http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xdg/2009-July/010809.html

Any programmatical approach would not work for Scandinavian languages
or any other language that uses suffixes or prefixes, like for example
as used for the definite article. See my reply on xdg-list:
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xdg/2009-August/010853.html


Christian