Translations Advocacy

[Shane Fagan]

On Wed, 2010-06-30 at 14:35 +0200, David Planella wrote:
> Hi translators,
> 
> On this cycle I'd like to work towards raising awareness on the work
> that we do inside the Ubuntu community, and I'd like to ask for your
> help on this.
> 
> http://davidplanella.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/translations-advocacy/
> 
> = Why translations =
> 
> Translations are a key part of the Ubuntu community, with deep roots in
> our Ubuntu philosophy [1]. For many users having an operating system in
> their language is the only way they’ll be able to use it, so it is just
> natural that we support this and provide tools to lower the barrier to
> community translations. Others might be proficient in English and be
> able to use Ubuntu without natural language support, but still choose to
> work with it in their language.
> 
> Languages are not only a vehicle for communication, but can mean a lot
> of things: identity, culture, evolution, creativity…  there is a long
> list of values that drive translators to do their work and users to have
> Ubuntu speak their own language, other than just the accessibility
> aspect.
> 
> Ubuntu translators and those from other projects it includes bring a
> localized system to millions, and that’s easily said than done. Release
> after release, a tireless community of volunteer enthusiasts set upon
> translating the thousands of strings that are part of the operating
> system and deliver Ubuntu localized in their language [2].
> 
> = We want more! =
> 
> I think this work is just awesome, and I think everyone should get to
> know about this effort, which does not only enable more people to use
> Ubuntu, but also makes possible such other amazing stories as keeping an
> indigenous language alive in our digital age [3] or being the only
> operating system available in a particular language [4].
> 
> In short, I’d like to hear more about translation teams and the work
> that they do. I know that many translators blog regularly about their
> work in their local languages, and I think it would be awesome to
> translate part of these posts and blog them on Planet Ubuntu to let our
> global community to know more about translations. It’s not only about
> raising awareness, but also growing and building a strong and active
> community.
> 
> We’ve already kicked off a series of Translations Interviews [5], but
> I’d like to ask translators to blog [6] more on the Planet, tweet/dent
> [8] about what you and your team is doing and basically spread the word.
> Translation jams [9], translation status, areas where help is needed,
> what you like or don’t like about working with Launchpad Translations,
> or even explaining a bit more about your language… there is a whole
> range of interesting topics to talk about.
> 
> So, who wants to be the first? 
> 
> [1] http://www.ubuntu.com/project/about-ubuntu/our-philosophy
> [2] http://people.ubuntu.com/~dpm/ubuntu-10.04-translation-stats.html
> [3] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuSecwepemcTranslators
> [4] http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/2022
> [5] http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/2064
> [6] http://adi.roiban.ro/2010/01/14/we-are-doing-fine-overall-i-think/
> [7] http://identi.ca/group/ubuntutranslators
> [8] http://blogs.fsfe.org/rcarreras/?p=97
> 

Hey David,

I see this a big issue for the Irish translations because there is a
lack of knowledge about the Irish translations effort. That makes it
hard to get translators because the people most passionate about the
language and that speak it everyday dont hear about the fact that they
can use computers in Irish and help out with making it better.

Irish is a minority language that is part of our heritage and culture so
its very important to bring it into the 21st century and allow it to be
used on computers. So maybe it doesnt get many users because its not the
most used language but its still very important and I really hope I can
get some native Irish speakers helping out and using it.  

Recently the ubuntu-ie loco mailing list got a message from a journalist
about doing a series of interviews with the translations team and im
still waiting to hear back from him about the plan he has for it but it
sounds like a great opportunity. He is pitching the story to a few
national radio stations and newspapers so it sounds very interesting.

So thats my view on translations advocacy anyway. Thoughts?

--fagan