Degree of trust and quality for Ubuntu Localization Teams

[Adi Roiban]

Hi,

During the last UDS we have talked about various reasons why people
blame Ubuntu translations.

This is a long email, but I think that the raised issue is very
important and it is fundamental for the way in which Ubuntu translations
are perceived by users, developers and other/upstream translators.

One of the cause is the due to the fact that for some languages everyone
(whether he/she knows or not the language) can submit a translation and
that translation will land directly in Ubuntu. They can also
delete/modify translations coming from upstream projects.

This can happen for Ubuntu Localization teams that use an open policy
for membership, or for teams that does not check whether or not the new
members are able to assure the translations quality.

I would like to note that the main goal of Ubuntu Localization Teams is
to assure that quality of translations. Everyone is free to suggest
translations and suggesting translations for Ubuntu is not limited to
member of those teams.

This email was triggered by an incident occurred in the Ubuntu Slovenian
Team where one of the team members was submitting approved translations
for Slovenian but they were in fact Russian translations (using latin
alphabet).

>From my point of view membership of Ubuntu localization teams should be
moderated and before approve a new member, the team coordinators will
have to take the requires measurement to make sure that person is aware
of hes/her role in the team and the team's commitment to quality.

We can also go further and follow the model used for LoCo teams and have
approved and unapproved localization teams. And approves teams would be
the one able to assure a minimal degree of quality.

I know there are pros and cons for opening or moderating a team, but I
think that all Ubuntu Localization teams should be moderated and have at
least one active member willing to moderate new members, assure the
translations quality, and be the spoke person for that language inside
the Ubuntu community.

Below is a list of team with open membership policy. 
I am aware that all translations are base on voluntary work and everyone
is helping as best as he/she can.
My intention is not to blame a person or a team, but I think that we
should try not to ruin the work of other people.
A bad translation could fail an application from starting, or it can
confuse the user or lead to erroneous actions. 

The main questions: 
1. What do you think?
2. Should we moderate membership for localization teams and implement
some minimal quality checks or we should have open team without any
quality assurance measures?


Basically for the following teams it is hard to assure the quality. If
you are member of one of those teams feel free to initiate an discussion
inside the team and find a way in which you could improve the
translations quality assurance process.

ubuntu-l10n-bn - Ubuntu Bengali Translators
loco-philippine-team - Ubuntu Team Philippines
ubuntu-l10n-br - Ubuntu Breton Translators
ubuntu-l10n-cv - Ubuntu Chuvash Translators
ubuntu-l10n-dv - Ubuntu Dhivehi Translators
ubuntu-l10n-en-au - Ubuntu English (Australia) Translators
ubuntu-l10n-en-ca - Ubuntu English (Canada) Translation Team
ubuntu-l10n-ht - Haitian Creole (kreyòl Ayisyen)
ubuntu-l10n-ja - Ubuntu Japanese Translators
ubuntu-l10n-kn - Ubuntu Kannada Translators
ubuntu-l10n-jbo - Ubuntu Lojban Translators
ubuntu-l10n-pms - Piemontèis
ubuntu-l10n-sco - Ubuntu Scots Translators
ubuntu-l10n-sl - Ubuntu Slovenian Translators
ubuntu-l10n-st - Southern Sotho Translators
ubuntu-l10n-th - Ubuntu Thai Translators
ubuntu-l10n-zh-tw - Ubuntu Traditional Chinese Translators
ubuntu-l10n-tr - Ubuntu'yu Türkçe'ye Çevirenler Takımı
ubuntu-l10n-ur - Ubuntu Urdu Translators
ubuntu-l10n-zza - Koma Ubuntu ya Kirmancî/Dimilî

Cheers,
-- 
Adi Roiban