[Mailman-i18n] Using Pootle

[Clytie Siddall]

Hi everyone :)

I'm very sorry I haven't been able to answer this earlier.

On 27/03/2008, at 12:24 PM, Barry Warsaw wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> On Mar 12, 2008, at 5:07 AM, Clytie Siddall wrote:
>>
>> On 11/03/2008, at 12:11 PM, Brad Knowles wrote:
>>
>>> On 3/10/08, liste yoneticisi wrote:
>>>
>>>> (An explanation to all: I just asked if there is anyone who
>>>> responsible for Turkish translation of Mailman, attended to these
>>>> lists
>>>> from Turkiye.)
>>>
>>> This is a question that is better asked on the mailman-i18n mailing
>>> list.  That's where all the Internationalization folks should be
>>> hanging out.
>>
>> I'd definitely vote for Pootle. It's free software, and gives you
>> complete control of access, plus syncing with source control
>> (including bzr, AFAIK). Its developers are extremely responsive to
>> admin or user needs.
>
> Hi Clytie,
>
> So would you recommend that we run our own Pootle server or use one  
> of the public Pootle servers that already exist.  The former is  
> problematic since we don't really have the resources or machines to  
> host such a server.  I looked at the official Pootle server  
> documentation and while they list a few projects that they host,  
> they don't appear to have formal published policy about how they  
> accept new projects.  I would guess that they'd be likely to accept  
> a GPL'd project like Mailman.

The only projects on the main Pootle are really there for  
experimentation. They don't have the resources to host projects, which  
is a great pity. I think it would encourage smaller projects to give  
it a try.
>
>
> The other listed public Pootle servers seem to be focused on  
> particular projects, so I'm not sure there's a different existing  
> service that would host us.

They have all been set up for specific projects, but you never know,  
they might have room for another one. However, your next mail follows  
on to that, please see below.
>
>
> We would need some mechanisms and policy for ensuring that  
> translators who contribute to Mailman all have the necessary FSF  
> copyright assignments.  We want to avoid getting in situations where  
> some languages aren't assigned and others are.

In order to use Pootle, your admin has to grant you access. So we can  
check if a translator has signed the FSF copyright disclaimer before  
granting access.

Also, you can set specific goals, and assign translators to specific  
strings or groups of strings. Pootle is very configurable, and gives  
you control of what happens, and who does what. That is really key to  
ensuring quality of translation.
>
>
> I'd like to have some ability for cross-project pollination.  The  
> idea being that it's good to have Vietnamese experts who contribute  
> to lots of open source projects,  and can learn about Mailman, with  
> an easy way to share translations across projects. I don't know if  
> that's a typical way translators work though, or if they would find  
> it a benefit to have such a system.

I agree with you, and I've been trying to work out some way we can  
cross-pollinate effectively. As it is, I meet the same people on a lot  
of the i18n mailing lists, but there's no coordination of all that  
skill and interest. The Translate Wiki, which is associated with  
Pootle, tries to create central resources for translators. Maybe we  
could work out something with the Wordforge people.
>
>
> Sync'ing from Bazaar would be very cool!

You bet. Guess who asked for it? :D

The cool thing was that they implemented it immediately! That sort of  
developer response is really valuable.
>
>
> Do any other translators have additional comments?
>

> On Apr 9, 2008, at 12:03 AM, Cristóbal Palmer wrote:
>> On Tue, Apr 08, 2008 at 11:14:12PM -0400, Barry Warsaw wrote:
>>>
>>> Would anybody out there be willing and able to run a reliable Pootle
>>> server for us?
>>
>> ibiblio can very likely host it. Please contact me off-list.

Yay!! Good host.
>>
>
> Hi Cristobal, this would be very cool.  I'm Cc'ing Clytie who is  
> heading up i18n for Mailman and lots more experience than I do.
>
> What would we need to do to set this up?

OK, there's lots of info on how to run and use Pootle here:

http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/pootle/index

If there's any info that you can't find, or any other problems, please  
ask on the Pootle mailing list (details at the address above). The  
devs are very helpful.

Using Pootle is a really good step, because it removes a lot of the  
barriers to participation in transation. All a translator needs is a  
browser and a Net connection, and s/he can do a few strings at any  
time, from anywhere. You can also do part, or all of your work offline  
sometimes or always, if you prefer: Pootle is a tool provided to give  
you more choices, not less.

For offline editing, Linux and Windows [1] translators can also try  
the new Wordforge editor (cousin to Pootle), Pootling:

http://www.khmeros.info/drupal/?q=en/download/Translation_Editor

I've had good feedback on it from some new translators. :)

from Clytie

Vietnamese Free Software Translation Team
http://vnoss.net/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=projects:l10n

[1] Mac translators (like me) can use LocFactoryEditor, a seriously  
cool and intuitive piece of software:
http://www.triplespin.com/en/products/locfactoryeditor.html
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: PGP.sig
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 194 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/mailman-i18n/attachments/20080422/dca767c6/attachment.pgp>