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Notes on the Free Translation Project
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*************************************
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Free software is going international! The Free Translation Project
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is a way to get maintainers of free software, translators, and users all
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together, so that will gradually become able to speak many languages.
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A few packages already provide translations for their messages.
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If you found this `ABOUT-NLS' file inside a distribution, you may
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assume that the distributed package does use GNU `gettext' internally,
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itself available at your nearest GNU archive site. But you do _not_
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need to install GNU `gettext' prior to configuring, installing or using
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this package with messages translated.
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Installers will find here some useful hints. These notes also
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explain how users should proceed for getting the programs to use the
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available translations. They tell how people wanting to contribute and
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work at translations should contact the appropriate team.
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When reporting bugs in the `intl/' directory or bugs which may be
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related to internationalization, you should tell about the version of
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`gettext' which is used. The information can be found in the
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`intl/VERSION' file, in internationalized packages.
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Quick configuration advice
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==========================
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If you want to exploit the full power of internationalization, you
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should configure it using
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./configure --with-included-gettext
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to force usage of internationalizing routines provided within this
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package, despite the existence of internationalizing capabilities in the
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operating system where this package is being installed. So far, only
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the `gettext' implementation in the GNU C library version 2 provides as
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many features (such as locale alias, message inheritance, automatic
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charset conversion or plural form handling) as the implementation here.
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It is also not possible to offer this additional functionality on top
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of a `catgets' implementation. Future versions of GNU `gettext' will
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very likely convey even more functionality. So it might be a good idea
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to change to GNU `gettext' as soon as possible.
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So you need _not_ provide this option if you are using GNU libc 2 or
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you have installed a recent copy of the GNU gettext package with the
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Some packages are "localizable" when properly installed; the
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programs they contain can be made to speak your own native language.
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Most such packages use GNU `gettext'. Other packages have their own
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ways to internationalization, predating GNU `gettext'.
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By default, this package will be installed to allow translation of
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messages. It will automatically detect whether the system already
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provides the GNU `gettext' functions. If not, the GNU `gettext' own
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library will be used. This library is wholly contained within this
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package, usually in the `intl/' subdirectory, so prior installation of
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the GNU `gettext' package is _not_ required. Installers may use
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special options at configuration time for changing the default
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behaviour. The commands:
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./configure --with-included-gettext
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./configure --disable-nls
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will respectively bypass any pre-existing `gettext' to use the
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internationalizing routines provided within this package, or else,
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_totally_ disable translation of messages.
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When you already have GNU `gettext' installed on your system and run
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configure without an option for your new package, `configure' will
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probably detect the previously built and installed `libintl.a' file and
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will decide to use this. This might be not what is desirable. You
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should use the more recent version of the GNU `gettext' library. I.e.
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if the file `intl/VERSION' shows that the library which comes with this
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package is more recent, you should use
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./configure --with-included-gettext
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to prevent auto-detection.
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The configuration process will not test for the `catgets' function
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and therefore it will not be used. The reason is that even an
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emulation of `gettext' on top of `catgets' could not provide all the
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extensions of the GNU `gettext' library.
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Internationalized packages have usually many `po/LL.po' files, where
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LL gives an ISO 639 two-letter code identifying the language. Unless
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translations have been forbidden at `configure' time by using the
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`--disable-nls' switch, all available translations are installed
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together with the package. However, the environment variable `LINGUAS'
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may be set, prior to configuration, to limit the installed set.
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`LINGUAS' should then contain a space separated list of two-letter
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codes, stating which languages are allowed.
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As a user, if your language has been installed for this package, you
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only have to set the `LANG' environment variable to the appropriate
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`LL_CC' combination. Here `LL' is an ISO 639 two-letter language code,
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and `CC' is an ISO 3166 two-letter country code. For example, let's
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suppose that you speak German and live in Germany. At the shell
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prompt, merely execute `setenv LANG de_DE' (in `csh'),
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`export LANG; LANG=de_DE' (in `sh') or `export LANG=de_DE' (in `bash').
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This can be done from your `.login' or `.profile' file, once and for
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You might think that the country code specification is redundant.
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But in fact, some languages have dialects in different countries. For
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example, `de_AT' is used for Austria, and `pt_BR' for Brazil. The
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country code serves to distinguish the dialects.
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Not all programs have translations for all languages. By default, an
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English message is shown in place of a nonexistent translation. If you
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understand other languages, you can set up a priority list of languages.
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This is done through a different environment variable, called
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`LANGUAGE'. GNU `gettext' gives preference to `LANGUAGE' over `LANG'
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for the purpose of message handling, but you still need to have `LANG'
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set to the primary language; this is required by other parts of the
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system libraries. For example, some Swedish users who would rather
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read translations in German than English for when Swedish is not
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available, set `LANGUAGE' to `sv:de' while leaving `LANG' to `sv_SE'.
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In the `LANGUAGE' environment variable, but not in the `LANG'
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environment variable, `LL_CC' combinations can be abbreviated as `LL'
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to denote the language's main dialect. For example, `de' is equivalent
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to `de_DE' (German as spoken in Germany), and `pt' to `pt_PT'
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(Portuguese as spoken in Portugal) in this context.
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For the Free Translation Project to be a success, we need interested
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people who like their own language and write it well, and who are also
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able to synergize with other translators speaking the same language.
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Each translation team has its own mailing list. The up-to-date list of
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teams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage,
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`http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/', in the "National teams"
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If you'd like to volunteer to _work_ at translating messages, you
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should become a member of the translating team for your own language.
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The subscribing address is _not_ the same as the list itself, it has
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`-request' appended. For example, speakers of Swedish can send a
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message to `sv-request@li.org', having this message body:
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Keep in mind that team members are expected to participate
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_actively_ in translations, or at solving translational difficulties,
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rather than merely lurking around. If your team does not exist yet and
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you want to start one, or if you are unsure about what to do or how to
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get started, please write to `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to reach the
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coordinator for all translator teams.
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The English team is special. It works at improving and uniformizing
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the terminology in use. Proven linguistic skill are praised more than
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programming skill, here.
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Languages are not equally supported in all packages. The following
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matrix shows the current state of internationalization, as of September
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2001. The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which languages
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PO files have been submitted to translation coordination, with a
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translation percentage of at least 50%.
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Ready PO files bg cs da de el en eo es et fi fr gl he hr id it ja
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+----------------------------------------------------+
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bison | [] [] [] [] [] |
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clisp | [] [] [] [] |
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cpio | [] [] [] [] [] |
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diffutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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gettext | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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gnupg | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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grep | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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id-utils | [] [] [] |
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indent | [] [] [] [] [] |
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libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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m4 | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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make | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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recode | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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sh-utils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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sharutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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soundtracker | [] [] [] |
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tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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texinfo | [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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textutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] |
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+----------------------------------------------------+
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bg cs da de el en eo es et fi fr gl he hr id it ja
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0 14 24 32 11 1 8 23 13 1 33 22 4 0 7 9 18
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ko lv nb nl nn no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr uk zh
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+----------------------------------------------------+
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cpio | [] [] [] [] [] | 10
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diffutils | [] [] [] [] | 11
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enscript | [] [] [] | 5
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fileutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 17
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findutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16
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gettext | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 18
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gnupg | [] [] [] | 10
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grep | [] [] [] [] | 12
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hello | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 22
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id-utils | [] [] [] | 6
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indent | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 12
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libc | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16
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lynx | [] [] [] [] | 8
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m4 | [] [] [] [] | 12
266
make | [] [] [] [] [] [] | 12
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ptx | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 15
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recode | [] [] [] [] | 13
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sed | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 19
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sh-utils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 21
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sharutils | [] [] [] | 11
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tar | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 15
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textutils | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 16
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util-linux | [] [] | 4
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wdiff | [] [] [] [] | 7
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wget | [] [] [] [] [] [] [] | 17
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+----------------------------------------------------+
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33 teams ko lv nb nl nn no pl pt pt_BR ru sk sl sv tr uk zh
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53 domains 9 1 6 20 0 6 17 1 13 25 10 11 23 21 2 2 387
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Some counters in the preceding matrix are higher than the number of
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visible blocks let us expect. This is because a few extra PO files are
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used for implementing regional variants of languages, or language
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For a PO file in the matrix above to be effective, the package to
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which it applies should also have been internationalized and
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distributed as such by its maintainer. There might be an observable
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lag between the mere existence a PO file and its wide availability in a
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If September 2001 seems to be old, you may fetch a more recent copy
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of this `ABOUT-NLS' file on most GNU archive sites. The most
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up-to-date matrix with full percentage details can be found at
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`http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/matrix.html'.
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Using `gettext' in new packages
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===============================
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If you are writing a freely available program and want to
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internationalize it you are welcome to use GNU `gettext' in your
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package. Of course you have to respect the GNU Library General Public
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License which covers the use of the GNU `gettext' library. This means
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in particular that even non-free programs can use `libintl' as a shared
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library, whereas only free software can use `libintl' as a static
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library or use modified versions of `libintl'.
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Once the sources are changed appropriately and the setup can handle
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to use of `gettext' the only thing missing are the translations. The
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Free Translation Project is also available for packages which are not
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developed inside the GNU project. Therefore the information given above
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applies also for every other Free Software Project. Contact
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`translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to make the `.pot' files available to
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the translation teams.
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ABOUT-NLS
