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.Quick configuration advice==========================   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, message inheritance, automaticcharset conversion or plural form handling) as the implementation here.It is also not possible to offer this additional functionality on topof a `catgets' implementation.  Future versions of GNU `gettext' willvery likely convey even more functionality.  So it might be a good ideato 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 alreadyprovides the GNU `gettext' functions.  If not, 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 --disable-nlswill respectively bypass any pre-existing `gettext' to use theinternationalizing routines provided within this package, or else,_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.   The configuration process will not test for the `catgets' functionand therefore it will not be used.  The reason is that even anemulation of `gettext' on top of `catgets' could not provide all theextensions of the GNU `gettext' library.   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 appropriate`LL_CC' combination.  Here `LL' is an ISO 639 two-letter language code,and `CC' is an ISO 3166 two-letter country code.  For example, let'ssuppose that you speak German and live in Germany.  At the shellprompt, merely execute `setenv LANG de_DE' (in `csh'),`export LANG; LANG=de_DE' (in `sh') or `export LANG=de_DE' (in `bash').This can be done from your `.login' or `.profile' file, once and forall.   You might think that the country code specification is redundant.But in fact, some languages have dialects in different countries.  Forexample, `de_AT' is used for Austria, and `pt_BR' for Brazil.  Thecountry code serves to distinguish the dialects.   The locale naming convention of `LL_CC', with `LL' denoting thelanguage and `CC' denoting the country, is the one use on systems basedon GNU libc.  On other systems, some variations of this scheme areused, such as `LL' or `LL_CC.ENCODING'.  You can get the list oflocales supported by your system for your country by running the command`locale -a | grep '^LL''.   Not all programs have translations for all languages.  By default, anEnglish message is shown in place of a nonexistent translation.  If youunderstand other languages, you can set up a priority list of languages.This is done through a different environment variable, called`LANGUAGE'.  GNU `gettext' gives preference to `LANGUAGE' over `LANG'for the purpose of message handling, but you still need to have `LANG'set to the primary language; this is required by other parts of thesystem libraries.  For example, some Swedish users who would ratherread translations in German than English for when Swedish is notavailable, set `LANGUAGE' to `sv:de' while leaving `LANG' to `sv_SE'.   In the `LANGUAGE' environment variable, but not in the `LANG'environment variable, `LL_CC' combinations can be abbreviated as `LL'to denote the language's main dialect.  For example, `de' is equivalentto `de_DE' (German as spoken in Germany), and `pt' to `pt_PT'(Portuguese as spoken in Portugal) in this context.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.  The up-to-date list ofteams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage,`http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/po/HTML/', in the "National teams"area.   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 July2002.  The matrix shows, in regard of each package, for which languagesPO files have been submitted to translation coordination, with atranslation percentage of at least 50%.     Ready PO files    be bg ca cs da de el en eo es et fi fr                     +----------------------------------------+     a2ps            |             [] []             []    [] |     bash            |                []       [] []       [] |     bfd             |                            []       [] |     binutils        |                            []       [] |     bison           |                []          [] []    [] |     clisp           |                []    []    []       [] |     clisp           |                                        |     clisplow        |                                        |     cpio            |             [] []          []       [] |     darkstat        |             ()                         |     diffutils       |          [] [] []       [] []       [] |     enscript        |                []                   [] |     error           |                []          []       [] |     fetchmail       |       [] () [] []          []       () |     fileutils       |             [] []          [] []    [] |     findutils       |             [] []       [] [] []    [] |     flex            |       []    [] []          []       [] |     gas             |                            []       [] |     gawk            |                []          []       [] |     gcal            |       []                            [] |     gcc             |                            []       [] |     gettext         |       []    [] []          []       [] |     gnupg           |       []       [] []    [] [] []    [] |     gprof           |                            []       [] |     gpsdrive        |             () ()    ()    ()       () |     grep            |    [] []       [] []       [] []    [] |     gretl           |                            []          |     gthumb          |                ()          ()       () |     hello           |       []    [] [] []    [] [] [] [] [] |     id-utils        |             [] []                   [] |     indent          |       []       []       []    []    [] |     jpilot          |          () [] []                   [] |     jwhois          |                            []       [] |     kbd             |                []          []       [] |     ld              |                            []       [] |     libc            |       [] [] [] [] []       []       [] |     libiconv        |       []       []       [] []          |