What happens to translations through Launchpad? (Arabic Gnome related)

[Danilo Šegan]

Hi all,

In the future, Djihed Afifi will write:

> As a side effect, Rosetta makes redundancy and time wasting very easy.
> Just look at this example: Arabic Gnome mainstream translation updated
> (probably more than a month ago), ubuntu didn't get the new strings, and
> translators could potentially work on already translated files, I
> believe some already are.

It's not that easy: Rosetta picks up upstream updates with every
package upload into Ubuntu, which usually means with all upstream
Gnome releases (i.e. 2.16.0, 2.16.1, ...), and sometimes even more
often (eg. if there's a bugfix/patch release in Ubuntu itself).

As this period with Gnome is very short (it's usually around 4 weeks
between releases), there is low risk of conflict happening.

> On coordinating work with the ubuntu team: that's more overhead for
> already stretched out translators for little benefit. IMO, coordination
> can be summed up as "just don't touch our Gnome files, unless absolutely
> necessary". I have yet to see where this is necessary (I'm an ubuntu
> user myself).

In terms of well established translation teams (such as Gnome and KDE
translation teams), there is truth in Rosetta being of best benefit to
users of "uncommon" languages and those just starting with translation
work for entire free software platform.

For instance, I can officially proclaim that any modifications done to
Serbian translations through Rosetta are of sub-par quality compared
to upstream Gnome or KDE translations.  But I can also officially
proclaim that this is not because of the technology (i.e. Rosetta),
but because of the translators involved and their (lack of) policy so
far (to be honest to them, that seems to be changing for the better).

And indeed, Rosetta developers (of which I am one) are working on
allowing better reuse of upstream translations (i.e. we're thinking of
having option like "prefer upstream translations over Rosetta-provided
ones").

> A solution might be to *only* offer strings which need to be changed for
> ubuntu, and direct the translator to the upstream translation team if
> needed. ATM, "translate this application..." as it is serves only to
> benefit ubuntu, and not upstream.

And now you've given me an idea.  This is just a braindump, it's
related to some work we already have planned and specced (something we
call "multicast translations"), but for your reference, here it is:

  https://launchpad.net/products/rosetta/+bug/74296
  https://blueprints.launchpad.net/products/rosetta/+spec/multicast-translations

Cheers,
Danilo