[Localization] Introduction

[Alexandro Colorado]

Hi just want to introduce myself to the list. I usually contribute to many
FLOSS projects including the popular OpennOffice.org and lately OOo4Kids
which is available for the XO/Sugar platform.

I am already working with the Laptop.org wiki on localizing the developer
manual into spanish.

An email regarding the issues around Etoys guide me to have a conversation
with Gustavo and others regarding the propper fashion to localize this
application.

There are some decisions that I think are important to be made if we want to
have a standarize locale in relation with other languages, and with the
overal ecosystem from Etoys.

An issue I saw was the decision between literal translations versus the
adaptation of terms in their original language.

A common issue is deciding what to localize and to what effect. (i.e.
Windows/Word/OpenOffice.org/Firefox are brands that usually are kept on
their original language).

Other terms are localized, however this start creating some issues between
valid translations but different synonims. (example: File -> archivo vs
fichero).

The effect of this term colision cause problems between the 1st and 3rd
party documentation, UI, and Help files.

Another issue is the culture clash between permisive cultures that are more
open to adopt foreign terminology and more strict cultures that translate
most of it.

The idea that these tools will be used by children are usually important
since we want to choose the easier naming.

Another position is to have the most standarized localization across
languages. Spanish term should be the most similar to Italian, French,
Portuguese and other romance languages.

I think is valid to think about all of these points and comment on the best
way to stablish a translation style and guideline to follow throughout the
software.

I am interested on learning what other localization teams like people from
Gnome, Mozilla and KDE follow on these concepts.

As a localization lead in OpenOffice.org we give priority to standarization
over acurate terminology. We also try to handle things on a more standarized
spanish whenever possible, however we know is not great so we are always on
the lookout to address and discuss terminology issues.

-- 
*Alexandro Colorado*
*OpenOffice.org* Español
http://es.openoffice.org
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