On Fri, 2003-04-11 at 16:02, Roger Lynn wrote:
I think having "English (USA)" appear as the only available language is more annoying for non-Americans than any Americanisms that might be in Mailman (and which are to be expected in most software anyway). So far, I've only noticed one, the spelling of "internationalisation", and that only appears on an admin page. Unless alternative English translations appear I would prefer the option to just be "English".
Maybe that should read 'anti-Americans' instead of 'non-Americans'. Ha ha. Personally, I like it the way it is.
How hard would it really be for someone really concerned about the lack of a non-USA English option to port a non-USA English (UK I assume) and so add to the project rather than just trying to relabel what is clearly in reality American English? It doesn't look like more than a few hours work to create a new language directory, copy over 'en' contents, then vim through them. One could even run any blocks of text through 'worldlingo.com' or whatever (if they differentiate the UK and US English) then eyeball scan the output.
It seems fairly clear that the person who wrote the 'en' files was American. Maybe not. But the fact remains he/she put in the time and effort to represent American English. Why should it be relabeled when the best thing to do would be for someone, probably a UK or resident of a prior UK colony to create a UK version. Then those who speak the various pidgin versions of English around the world can create their own ports.
Am I missing something or does there seem to be a metallic political tang to the bringing up of this issue of American English being labeled 'English (USA)' in the interface?
Why would my approach of other's creating the ports they want to see not more valid than relabeling US English as mere English if this is perceived to be the case?
What I find ironic is that I am strongly of the mind that if American English had been labeled as merely 'English' to start with that someone out there would have been offended about "Americans *assuming* that their brand of English is standard! I want it labeled 'English (USA) so that people are not deceived!".
To show my good will, I would attempt a port from US to UK English. I think I know most of the spelling issues, but some of the terminology variance might escape me unless there are lots of places to use the word 'lorry' instead of 'truck' in the 'en' directory.
Oh yeah, almost forgot. I suppose we need a Canadian English also. I don't think I'd do very well on that. As far as I know it is the same as UK which shows how little I know, I am sure.
:^)
Marty