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leuce
April 2nd, 2008, 09:13 AM
G'day everyone

Every time I install Ubuntu (or any Linux distro for that matter), I'm amazed to see all the extra programs that come with it. I'm primarily a Windows user, see, where we have to find, download and install a myriad of programs ourselves because the stuff that come with the OS is, well, lacking.

Still, it's nice that many of the programs found in an Ubuntu installation also have Windows versions. It is also good news for me for a different reason -- I lead a project to help volunteers translate opensource software into their languages. The project is called the "Decathlon (http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/decathlon/mainpage)" because we challenge people to translate 10 programs in 2008. At the moment we try to get programs that run on at least Linux and Windows.

The nice thing about programs bundled with Ubuntu or programs that can easily be installed using Ubuntu, is that volunteers in minority languages can use Ubuntu effectively to promote opensource software in their communities, and to promote their language in their countries. The question is... which programs should we focus on to translate? What do you think?

We'd like to stick to programs that is end-user focused, so that volunteer translators can use the programs to promote opensource software and software in their language (these are our two main stated goals, after all).

We use a Pootle server (http://pootle.locamotion.org/) so anyone and a bunch of his friends can translate a single file (or multiple files) without interfering with each other's work. And because Pootle can grab the latest POT file straight from SVN, translators can consentrate on the translation stuff only. And Pootle can help translators do automatic checks on translated strings to ensure that the translation does not break the localised software.

I look forward to your comments.

Samuel Murray
Decathlon leader

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wPwLUi3N
April 2nd, 2008, 09:31 AM
For web you can use "Google Translator!!!"

ZabiGG
May 3rd, 2008, 03:51 PM
OMG! Google translator? Anyone who enjoys reading legible texts would disagree... lol. There is a reason why real translators are human -- interpreting text has a lot to do with context and sensitivity. In many instances, translation cannot be reduced to mere logarithmic calculations.

I'd love to help in my spare time. Any room left for French translators?

Cheers,

ZabiGG

ssam
May 3rd, 2008, 04:04 PM
ubuntu have a webbased system called Rosetta (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Rosetta) for translation. maybe you could intergrate with that somehow.

you could look at the list of programs on the opendisc http://theopendisc.com/programs/ . those are all windows foss (most of them are avaliable for linux too)

i am an english speaker, so i am not sure which apps need translating still.