Retiring inactive languages

The l10n of Pale Moon. Rawr.
User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35478
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Moonchild » 2015-05-01, 08:52

Hi folks,

Sorry to be the bearer of more potentially bad news, but I'll be retiring all language packs that we do not have an active translator for at this time. As Pale Moon continues to drift further away from its sibling, less of the language packs that lie at the root of Pale Moon's language packs can be used, and instead of getting a rather ugly 50-50 mix of English and another language, I feel it's better to not offer inactive languages to the public from 25.4 forward.

This means the languages will likely be shrunk from the 90 count it is now to about 25, with potentially some more casualties to restrict to only very common languages (e.g.: en, de, es, fr, pt, ja, ru, zh) if current translators are no longer maintaining the language pack with the new release.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

User avatar
Antonius32
Add-ons Team
Add-ons Team
Posts: 695
Joined: 2014-05-25, 11:18
Location: Netherlands

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Antonius32 » 2015-05-01, 13:15

Moonchild wrote:This means the languages will likely be shrunk from the 90 count it is now to about 25, with potentially some more casualties to restrict to only very common languages (e.g.: en, de, es, fr, pt, ja, ru, zh) if current translators are no longer maintaining the language pack with the new release.
Which languages do you need new translators for? I'm sure there are people on the forum who'd be willing to help translate Pale Moon to their language..

KNTRO

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by KNTRO » 2015-05-01, 17:00

Moonchild wrote:instead of getting a rather ugly 50-50 mix of English and another language, I feel it's better to not offer inactive languages to the public from 25.4 forward.
Totally agree.
Moonchild wrote:This means the languages will likely be shrunk from the 90 count it is now to about 25, with potentially some more casualties to restrict to only very common languages (e.g.: en, de, es, fr, pt, ja, ru, zh) if current translators are no longer maintaining the language pack with the new release.
It's sadly amazing that some very popular lingos like Afrikaans, Bengali, Catalan, Czech, Welsh, French, Greek, Irish, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål & Nynorsk, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Ukranian, Vietnamese, Chinese (Simplified) and Zulu are either incomplete or eternally in progress. :( What will you do when, let's say, you remove some current incomplete / in progress language and some time later somebody —probably a Pale Moon's new user— ask for that language? Are you gonna enable that locale instantly so he/she localize Pale Moon to that language?

By the way, I wanna ask why there's an so called "Alternative German" locale. de-ade? Whadda…? :wtf: That's not standard, AFAIK! :eh:

Best.

User avatar
Antonius32
Add-ons Team
Add-ons Team
Posts: 695
Joined: 2014-05-25, 11:18
Location: Netherlands

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Antonius32 » 2015-05-01, 18:08

I was referring to the 25 remaining languages, obviously. I think it should be possible to find someone who's willing to (help) maintain the Italian language pack, for example.

McFluffy

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by McFluffy » 2015-05-01, 20:34

I have translated up to v25.2, and there has to my knowledge not been any further translation necessary.
But Danish is perhaps not interesting for you anymore :?

User avatar
Sob__
Lunatic
Lunatic
Posts: 251
Joined: 2014-02-17, 01:12
Location: CZ

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Sob__ » 2015-05-01, 21:16

I wouldn't do it. Just from looking at browser, it looks to me more like 95-5 mix (Czech language). Untranslated are whole status bar options and some other strings in main options, but that seems to be it. All the basic stuff is translated, that's the most important. Regular users have good chance to never notice anything untranslated, so they can use the browser just fine. English only version would not go very well with them.

And yeah, as I just confessed to know the language, I'm obviously one who could possibly fix it. :) I'll think about it, but I was never good with translations, I always have problems finding the right words.

Supernova

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Supernova » 2015-05-02, 10:18

I don't think either it's a good solution.
As said above, it's more 95-5 than 50-50 ; and if the 5% in english are a problem for someone, then 100% will be even more.
It's already indicated on the website when language packs are complete or not, there is no lie from PM side on this.

What is much needed is that new localization server which seems to cause so much issues to set up. :|

User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35478
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Moonchild » 2015-05-02, 11:13

I can still build the language packs, but they will get increasingly more English (in chunks) as strings in active languages change. I will not be keeping them up on the website though, because it's simply not in anyone's interest to have half-assed language packs front and center.
If you are native in a rather obscure language, there is a very good chance you are also well-versed enough in the mainstream languages used around the globe to use a browser in that language.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35478
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Moonchild » 2015-05-02, 11:16

Off-topic:
As for the localization server - I still have no working solution and have already wasted too much time trying to get existing setups to work.

As offered before: I have a pre-paid VPS set up and ready to be used - if anyone thinks they can set up and maintain this VPS as a localization server, then PM me to discuss it. I'm done trying.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

User avatar
Sob__
Lunatic
Lunatic
Posts: 251
Joined: 2014-02-17, 01:12
Location: CZ

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Sob__ » 2015-05-02, 12:25

Moonchild wrote:If you are native in a rather obscure language, there is a very good chance you are also well-versed enough in the mainstream languages used around the globe to use a browser in that language.
Don't forget about "my mom" type of users, those are not ready to use anything else except their native language.

User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35478
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Re: Retiring inactive languages

Unread post by Moonchild » 2015-05-05, 15:47

Sob__ wrote:
Moonchild wrote:If you are native in a rather obscure language, there is a very good chance you are also well-versed enough in the mainstream languages used around the globe to use a browser in that language.
Don't forget about "my mom" type of users, those are not ready to use anything else except their native language.
Then Pale Moon is not a browser for them. (Even current generation moms will know mainstream languages)
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

Locked