Notes on the Free Translation Project*************************************   Free software is going international!  The Free Translation Projectis a way to get maintainers of free software, translators, and users alltogether, so that will gradually become able to speak many languages.A few packages already provide translations for their messages.   If you found this `ABOUT-NLS' file inside a distribution, you mayassume that the distributed package does use GNU `gettext' internally,itself available at your nearest GNU archive site.  But you do *not*need to install GNU `gettext' prior to configuring, installing or usingthis package with messages translated.   Installers will find here some useful hints.  These notes alsoexplain how users should proceed for getting the programs to use theavailable translations.  They tell how people wanting to contribute andwork at translations should contact the appropriate team.   When reporting bugs in the `intl/' directory or bugs which may berelated to internationalization, you should tell about the version of`gettext' which is used.  The information can be found in the`intl/VERSION' file, in internationalized packages.One advise in advance=====================   If you want to exploit the full power of internationalization, youshould configure it using     ./configure --with-included-gettextto force usage of internationalizing routines provided within thispackage, despite the existence of internationalizing capabilities in theoperating system where this package is being installed.  So far, onlythe `gettext' implementation in the GNU C library version 2 provides asmany features (such as locale alias or message inheritance) as theimplementation here.  It is also not possible to offer this additionalfunctionality on top of a `catgets' implementation.  Future versions ofGNU `gettext' will very likely convey even more functionality.  So itmight be a good idea to change to GNU `gettext' as soon as possible.   So you need not provide this option if you are using GNU libc 2 oryou have installed a recent copy of the GNU gettext package with theincluded `libintl'.INSTALL Matters===============   Some packages are "localizable" when properly installed; theprograms they contain can be made to speak your own native language.Most such packages use GNU `gettext'.  Other packages have their ownways to internationalization, predating GNU `gettext'.   By default, this package will be installed to allow translation ofmessages.  It will automatically detect whether the system providesusable `catgets' (if using this is selected by the installer) or`gettext' functions.  If neither is available, the GNU `gettext' ownlibrary will be used.  This library is wholly contained within thispackage, usually in the `intl/' subdirectory, so prior installation ofthe GNU `gettext' package is *not* required.  Installers may usespecial options at configuration time for changing the defaultbehaviour.  The commands:     ./configure --with-included-gettext     ./configure --with-catgets     ./configure --disable-nlswill respectively bypass any pre-existing `catgets' or `gettext' to usethe internationalizing routines provided within this package, enablethe use of the `catgets' functions (if found on the locale system), orelse, *totally* disable translation of messages.   When you already have GNU `gettext' installed on your system and runconfigure without an option for your new package, `configure' willprobably detect the previously built and installed `libintl.a' file andwill decide to use this.  This might be not what is desirable.  Youshould use the more recent version of the GNU `gettext' library.  I.e.if the file `intl/VERSION' shows that the library which comes with thispackage is more recent, you should use     ./configure --with-included-gettextto prevent auto-detection.   By default the configuration process will not test for the `catgets'function and therefore they will not be used.  The reasons are alreadygiven above: the emulation on top of `catgets' cannot provide all theextensions provided by the GNU `gettext' library.  If you neverthelesswant to use the `catgets' functions use     ./configure --with-catgetsto enable the test for `catgets' (this causes no harm if `catgets' isnot available on your system).  If you really select this option wewould like to hear about the reasons because we cannot think of anygood one ourself.   Internationalized packages have usually many `po/LL.po' files, whereLL gives an ISO 639 two-letter code identifying the language.  Unlesstranslations have been forbidden at `configure' time by using the`--disable-nls' switch, all available translations are installedtogether with the package.  However, the environment variable `LINGUAS'may be set, prior to configuration, to limit the installed set.`LINGUAS' should then contain a space separated list of two-lettercodes, stating which languages are allowed.Using This Package==================   As a user, if your language has been installed for this package, youonly have to set the `LANG' environment variable to the appropriateISO 639 `LL' two-letter code prior to using the programs in thepackage.  For example, let's suppose that you speak German.  At theshell prompt, merely execute `setenv LANG de' (in `csh'),`export LANG; LANG=de' (in `sh') or `export LANG=de' (in `bash').  Thiscan be done from your `.login' or `.profile' file, once and for all.   An operating system might already offer message localization formany of its programs, while other programs have been installed locallywith the full capabilities of GNU `gettext'.  Just using `gettext'extended syntax for `LANG' would break proper localization of alreadyavailable operating system programs.  In this case, users should setboth `LANGUAGE' and `LANG' variables in their environment, as programsusing GNU `gettext' give preference to `LANGUAGE'.  For example, someSwedish users would rather read translations in German than English forwhen Swedish is not available.  This is easily accomplished by setting`LANGUAGE' to `sv:de' while leaving `LANG' to `sv'.Translating Teams=================   For the Free Translation Project to be a success, we need interestedpeople who like their own language and write it well, and who are alsoable to synergize with other translators speaking the same language.Each translation team has its own mailing list, courtesy of LinuxInternational.  You may reach your translation team at the address`LL@li.org', replacing LL by the two-letter ISO 639 code for yourlanguage.  Language codes are *not* the same as the country codes givenin ISO 3166.  The following translation teams exist, as of August 1998:     Chinese `zh', Czech `cs', Danish `da', Dutch `nl', English `en',     Esperanto `eo', Finnish `fi', French `fr', German `de', Hungarian     `hu', Irish `ga', Italian `it', Indonesian `id', Japanese `ja',     Korean `ko', Latin `la', Norwegian `no', Persian `fa', Polish     `pl', Portuguese `pt', Russian `ru', Slovenian `sl', Spanish `es',     Swedish `sv', and Turkish `tr'.For example, you may reach the Chinese translation team by writing to`zh@li.org'.   If you'd like to volunteer to *work* at translating messages, youshould become a member of the translating team for your own language.The subscribing address is *not* the same as the list itself, it has`-request' appended.  For example, speakers of Swedish can send amessage to `sv-request@li.org', having this message body:     subscribe   Keep in mind that team members are expected to participate*actively* in translations, or at solving translational difficulties,rather than merely lurking around.  If your team does not exist yet andyou want to start one, or if you are unsure about what to do or how toget started, please write to `translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to reach thecoordinator for all translator teams.   The English team is special.  It works at improving and uniformizingthe terminology in use.  Proven linguistic skill are praised more thanprogramming skill, here.Available Packages==================   Languages are not equally supported in all packages.  The followingmatrix shows the current state of internationalization, as of August1998.  The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which languagesPO files have been submitted to translation coordination.     Ready PO files    cs da de el en es fi fr it                     .----------------------------.     bash            |       []             []    |     bison           |       []             []    |     clisp           |       []    [] []    []    |     cpio            |       []       []    []    |     diffutils       |       []       []    []    |     enscript        |       []       [] [] []    |     fileutils       | []    []       []    []    |     findutils       |       []       []    [] [] |     flex            |                []    []    |     gcal            |       []             []    |     gettext         |    [] [] []    []    []    |     grep            |       [] []    []    []    |     hello           |    [] []       []    [] [] |     id-utils        |       []             []    |     indent          |    [] []                   |     libc            |       []       []    []    |     m4              |       []             []    |     make            |       []       []    []    |     music           |                      []    |     ptx             |       []       []    []    |     recode          |    [] []       []    []    |     sed             |                            |     sh-utils        |       []       []    []    |     sharutils       | []    [] []    []    []    |     tar             | []    []             [] [] |     texinfo         | []    []             []    |     textutils       | []    []       []    []    |     wdiff           | []    []       []    []    |     wget            | []    [] []             [] |                     `----------------------------'                       cs da de el en es fi fr it                        7  4 26  4  1 18  1 26  4                            ja ko nl no pl pt ru sl sv                     .----------------------------.     bash            |       []                   |  3     bison           |       []                   |  3     clisp           |                            |  4     cpio            |    [] []    []             |  6     diffutils       |             []          [] |  5     enscript        |       []             []    |  6     fileutils       |    [] []    [] [] [] [] [] | 11     findutils       |    [] []    []    []    [] |  9     flex            |    []                   [] |  4     gcal            |       []    []          [] |  5     gettext         |    [] [] [] [] []    [] [] | 13     grep            |    [] [] [] []    [] [] [] | 11     hello           |    [] [] [] [] []    [] [] | 12     id-utils        |             []             |  3     indent          |    []       []    []       |  5     libc            |    [] [] [] []          [] |  8     m4              | []    []          []    [] |  6     make            |    [] []    []             |  6     music           |             []             |  2     ptx             |       [] [] [] []       [] |  8     recode          |       []    [] []    [] [] |  9     sed             |                            |  0     sh-utils        |       [] [] [] []       [] |  8     sharutils       |       []                [] |  7     tar             |    [] [] [] [] []    [] [] | 11     texinfo         |       []                   |  4     textutils       |    [] [] [] []          [] |  9     wdiff           |       [] [] []          [] |  8     wget            |          []                |  5                     `----------------------------'       18 teams        ja ko nl no pl pt ru sl sv       29 domains       1 12 21 11 19  7  5  7 17  191   Some counters in the preceding matrix are higher than the number ofvisible blocks let us expect.  This is because a few extra PO files areused for implementing regional variants of languages, or languagedialects.   For a PO file in the matrix above to be effective, the package towhich it applies should also have been internationalized anddistributed as such by its maintainer.  There might be an observablelag between the mere existence a PO file and its wide availability in adistribution.   If August 1998 seems to be old, you may fetch a more recent copy ofthis `ABOUT-NLS' file on most GNU archive sites.Using `gettext' in new packages===============================   If you are writing a freely available program and want tointernationalize it you are welcome to use GNU `gettext' in yourpackage.  Of course the GNU Public License applies to your sources fromthen if you include `gettext' directly in your distribution on butsince you are writing free software anyway this is no restriction.   Once the sources are change appropriately and the setup can handle touse of `gettext' the only thing missing are the translations.  The FreeTranslation Project is also available for packages which are notdeveloped inside the GNU project.  Therefore the information given aboveapplies also for every other Free Software Project.  Contact`translation@iro.umontreal.ca' to make the `.pot' files available tothe translation teams.