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@node Translation Intro
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@chapter Notes on the Free Translation Project
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@set STATUS January 2004
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Free software is going international! The Free Translation Project is
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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 @file{ABOUT-NLS} file inside a distribution, you
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may assume that the distributed package does use GNU @code{gettext}
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internally, itself available at your nearest GNU archive site. But you
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do @emph{not} need to install GNU @code{gettext} prior to configuring,
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installing or using this package with messages translated.
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Installers will find here some useful hints. These notes also explain
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how users should proceed for getting the programs to use the available
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translations. They tell how people wanting to contribute and work
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at translations should contact the appropriate team.
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When reporting bugs in the @file{intl/} directory or bugs which may
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be related to internationalization, you should tell about the version
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of @code{gettext} which is used. The information can be found in
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the @file{intl/VERSION} file, in internationalized packages.
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* Configuration advice::
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* Using This Package::
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* Available Packages::
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* Using gettext in own code::
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@node Configuration advice
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@section Quick configuration advice
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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 @code{gettext} implementation in the GNU C library version 2
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provides as many features (such as locale alias, message inheritance,
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automatic charset conversion or plural form handling)
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as the implementation here. It is also not possible to offer this
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additional functionality on top of a @code{catgets} implementation.
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Future versions of GNU @code{gettext} will very likely convey even more
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functionality. So it might be a good idea to change to GNU
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@code{gettext} as soon as possible.
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So you need @emph{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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included @file{libintl}.
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@section INSTALL Matters
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Some packages are @dfn{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 @code{gettext}. Other packages have their
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own ways to internationalization, predating GNU @code{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 @code{gettext} functions. If not, the GNU
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@code{gettext} own library will be used. This library is wholly
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contained within this package, usually in the @file{intl/} subdirectory,
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so prior installation of the GNU @code{gettext} package is @emph{not}
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required. Installers may use special options at configuration time for
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changing the default 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 @code{gettext} to use the
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internationalizing routines provided within this package, or else,
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@emph{totally} disable translation of messages.
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When you already have GNU @code{gettext} installed on your system and
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run configure without an option for your new package, @code{configure}
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will probably detect the previously built and installed @file{libintl.a}
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file and will decide to use this. This might be not what is desirable.
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You should use the more recent version of the GNU @code{gettext}
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library. I.e. if the file @file{intl/VERSION} shows that the library
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which comes with this 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 @code{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 @code{gettext} on top of @code{catgets} could not provide
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all the extensions of the GNU @code{gettext} library.
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Internationalized packages have usually many @file{po/@var{ll}.po}
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files, where @var{ll} gives an @w{ISO 639} two-letter code
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identifying the language. Unless translations have been forbidden
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at @code{configure} time by using the @samp{--disable-nls} switch,
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all available translations are installed together with the package.
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However, the environment variable @code{LINGUAS} may be set, prior
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to configuration, to limit the installed set. @code{LINGUAS} should
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then contain a space separated list of two-letter codes, stating
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which languages are allowed.
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@node Using This Package
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@section Using This Package
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@c FIXME: rewrite to document the aliases.
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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 @code{LANG} environment variable to the appropriate
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@samp{@var{ll}_@var{CC}} combination. Here @samp{@var{ll}} is an
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@w{ISO 639} two-letter language code, and @samp{@var{CC}} is an
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@w{ISO 3166} two-letter country code. For example, let's suppose that you
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speak German and live in Germany. At the shell prompt, merely execute
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@w{@samp{setenv LANG de_DE}} (in @code{csh}),
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@w{@samp{export LANG; LANG=de_DE}} (in @code{sh}) or
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@w{@samp{export LANG=de_DE}} (in @code{bash}). This can be done from your
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@file{.login} or @file{.profile} file, once and for all.
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You might think that the country code specification is redundant. But in
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fact, some languages have dialects in different countries. For example,
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@samp{de_AT} is used for Austria, and @samp{pt_BR} for Brazil. The country
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code serves to distinguish the dialects.
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The locale naming convention of @samp{@var{ll}_@var{CC}}, with
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@samp{@var{ll}} denoting the language and @samp{@var{CC}} denoting the
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country, is the one use on systems based on GNU libc. On other systems,
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some variations of this scheme are used, such as @samp{@var{ll}} or
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@samp{@var{ll}_@var{CC}.@var{encoding}}. You can get the list of
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locales supported by your system for your country by running the command
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@samp{locale -a | grep '^@var{ll}'}.
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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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@code{LANGUAGE}. GNU @code{gettext} gives preference to @code{LANGUAGE}
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over @code{LANG} for the purpose of message handling, but you still
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need to have @code{LANG} set to the primary language; this is required
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by other parts of the system libraries.
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For example, some Swedish users who would rather read translations in
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German than English for when Swedish is not available, set @code{LANGUAGE}
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to @samp{sv:de} while leaving @code{LANG} to @samp{sv_SE}.
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Special advice for Norwegian users: The language code for Norwegian
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bokm@ringaccent{a}l changed from @samp{no} to @samp{nb} recently (in 2003).
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During the transition period, while some message catalogs for this language
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are installed under @samp{nb} and some older ones under @samp{no}, it's
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recommended for Norwegian users to set @code{LANGUAGE} to @samp{nb:no} so that
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both newer and older translations are used.
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In the @code{LANGUAGE} environment variable, but not in the @code{LANG}
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environment variable, @samp{@var{ll}_@var{CC}} combinations can be
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abbreviated as @samp{@var{ll}} to denote the language's main dialect.
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For example, @samp{de} is equivalent to @samp{de_DE} (German as spoken in
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Germany), and @samp{pt} to @samp{pt_PT} (Portuguese as spoken in Portugal)
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@c An operating system might already offer message localization for many of
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@c its programs, while other programs have been
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@c installed locally with the full capabilities of GNU @code{gettext}.
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@c Just using @code{gettext} extended syntax for @code{LANG} would break
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@c proper localization of already available operating system programs.
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@c FIXME: The user doesn't care about design justifications. --bruno
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@node Translating Teams
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@section Translating Teams
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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
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of teams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage,
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@file{http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/}, in the
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"National teams" area.
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If you'd like to volunteer to @emph{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 @emph{not} the same as the list itself, it
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has @samp{-request} appended. For example, speakers of Swedish can send
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a message to @w{@file{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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@emph{actively} in translations, or at solving translational
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difficulties, rather than merely lurking around. If your team does not
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exist yet and you want to start one, or if you are unsure about what to
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do or how to get started, please write to
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@w{@file{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
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more than programming skill, here.
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@node Available Packages
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@section Available Packages
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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
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@value{STATUS}. The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which
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languages PO files have been submitted to translation coordination,
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with a translation percentage of at least 50%.
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Some counters in the preceding matrix are higher than the number of visible
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blocks let us expect. This is because a few extra PO files are used for
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implementing regional variants of languages, or language dialects.
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For a PO file in the matrix above to be effective, the package to which
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it applies should also have been internationalized and distributed as
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such by its maintainer. There might be an observable lag between the
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mere existence a PO file and its wide availability in a distribution.
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If @value{STATUS} seems to be old, you may fetch a more recent copy
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of this @file{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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@file{http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/matrix.html}.
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@node Using gettext in own code
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@section Using @code{gettext} in new packages
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If you are writing a freely available program and want to internationalize
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it you are welcome to use GNU @file{gettext} in your package. Of course
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you have to respect the GNU Library General Public License which covers
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the use of the GNU @file{gettext} library. This means in particular that
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even non-free programs can use @code{libintl} as a shared library, whereas
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only free software can use @code{libintl} as a static library or use
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modified versions of @code{libintl}.
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Once the sources are changed appropriately and the setup can handle the
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use of @code{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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@w{@file{translation@@iro.umontreal.ca}} to make the @file{.pot} files
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available to the translation teams.
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gettext-runtime/doc/nls.texi
