[Mailman-Developers] English (USA)

[Marty Galyean]

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