"FP" == François Pinard
writes:
FP> This is why the responsibilities between maintainers and FP> programmers ought to be well split. If the maintainer feels FP> responsible for the work that is induced on the translation FP> teams by string changes, comfort is lost. The maintainer FP> should do its work in all freedom, and the problem of later FP> reflecting tiny editorial changes into PO `msgstr' fully FP> pertains to translators, with the possible help of automatic FP> tools. Translators should be prepared to such changes. If FP> the split of responsibilities is not fully understood and FP> accepted, internationalisation becomes much heavier, in FP> practice, than it has to be. Unfortunately, sometimes one person has to wear both hats and then we see the tension between the roles. >> I18n'ing a program means you have to worry about a lot more >> things. [...] FP> Internationalisation should not add a significant burden on FP> the programmer. I mean, if there is something cumbersome in FP> the internationalisation of a string, then there is something FP> cumbersome in that string outside any internationalisation FP> context. It may not be a significant burden, once the infrastructure is in place and a rhythm is established, but it is still not non-zero. Little issues crop up all the time, like the fact that a message might have the same English phrase but need to be distinguished for proper translation in some other languages (gettext vs. catgets), or that the translation is slightly different depending on where the message is output (email, web, console), or dealing with localized formatting of numbers, dates, and other values. It's just stuff you have to keep in mind and deal with, but it's not insurmountable. I think the current Python tools for i18n'ing are pretty good, and the bright side is that I'd still rather be developing an i18n'd program in Python than in just about any other language. One area that I think we could do better in is in support of localizing dates, currency, etc. Here, Stephan Richter is laying some groundwork in the Zope3 I18n project, possibly integrating IBM's ICU library into Python. http://www-124.ibm.com/icu/ -Barry