Not to mention there are certain things which are English only and can only be made multilingual with extra perfectionism.
]]>but since someone wants to formalize, how about this:
when we get close to a release, we will post a thread in this forum which will be called "submit your #*@(#ing translations NOW for 0.9.6".
we wont post that thread until the .rc is stable and we are truly close to a release.
if anyone can't be arsed to read this forum or watch IRC then they can't be coordinated with and their translations are probably going to end up getting purged for too-much-out-of-dateness. we'll also make note of it in the svn checkin logs since that may be all some people read.
this is only going 5 millimeters out of the way, so it falls under the threshold of inconvenience, although dealing with all the language patches nearly all at once is about 9.8 mm of inconvenience.
but i'll let luigi do the purging though since he opened this can of worms and I like leaving old and crappy translations checked in, since it is my passive aggressive way of punishing gobbledegook speakers.
]]>ACTION PLANNED:
We won't nuke the translations right now.
However, any translation that is outdated and stays so before the release will be nuked.Hoping everyone agrees with it.
Just 'thinking aloud' as well: Just nuke *all* translations and it becomes a non-issue since you dont have to find a way to determine if its 'outdated', *plus* it fulfills the requirement of developers not having to to go one centimeter out of the way in order to facilitate translations.
Based on the "ACTION PLANNED" listed above, the developer driving this task is seeking agreement on "nuking outdated translation" before a public release.
As such, the yardstick for determining "outdated translation" need to be found and agreed upon.
To complete the action plan, we need to ask further questions, e.g. as stated in my earlier comment.
How up-to-date is considered updated enough to remain in the release?
Since translators are not getting any help from the developers, are the developers going to scrutinize the "foreign" emu layout (probably gibberish to you) and judge its value to the "foreign" users?
Will the developers get mutual agreement from translators before "removing a so-called outdated" translation?
Whether "developers are willing to budge one centimeter or not is about their rights and preference" on the translation matter which we can ask and they can reject.
I put forth an earlier suggestion in view of the better needs of active translation and I will let others judge the value of your comments("nuke *all* translations") in such a discussion topic.
It is fine if the developers won't "budge" one centimeter for translations but I would like to know the yardstick being used to determine if the translation is "outdated" and need to be "removed".
How up-to-date is considered updated enough to remain in the release?
Since translators are not getting any help from the developers, are the developers going to scrutinize the "foreign" emu layout (probably gibberish to you) and judge its value to the "foreign" users?
Will the developers get mutual agreement from translators before "removing a so-called outdated" translation?Thinking aloud.
Just 'thinking aloud' as well: Just nuke *all* translations and it becomes a non-issue since you dont have to find a way to determine if its 'outdated', *plus* it fulfills the requirement of developers not having to to go one centimeter out of the way in order to facilitate translations.
]]>Whatever made you think this topic was about what is theoretically possible or feasible? It has always been about what is convenient. It is not convenient to go one centimeter out of the way in order to facilitate translations.
It is fine if the developers won't "budge" one centimeter for translations but I would like to know the yardstick being used to determine if the translation is "outdated" and need to be "removed".
How up-to-date is considered updated enough to remain in the release?
Since translators are not getting any help from the developers, are the developers going to scrutinize the "foreign" emu layout (probably gibberish to you) and judge its value to the "foreign" users?
Will the developers get mutual agreement from translators before "removing a so-called outdated" translation?
Thinking aloud.
]]>It is not convenient to go one centimeter out of the way in order to facilitate translations.
Well then screw the translations.
]]>Developers are not going to edit resources in every language whenever they change something. That is the whole point of this discussion. I don't want to worry about that junk, and the translator needs to whack everything and start over if he is uncertain whether his dialogs and menus are up to date.
Allright, gonna suggest something wildly insane here... but... would it theoretically be possible/feasible to introduce the concept of separate 'language files' (sorry, not a dev here), that could get updated and distributed separately from the desmume executable ? Which would allow the desmume devs to do a release whenever they feel like it, without having to care about the translations, and all the involved translation maintainers could then supply the translation files to be dropped in some ../translations/ dir to be picked up by the desmume executable ?
Have I gone insane here ?
]]>Developers are not going to edit resources in every language whenever they change something. That is the whole point of this discussion. I don't want to worry about that junk, and the translator needs to whack everything and start over if he is uncertain whether his dialogs and menus are up to date.
I know the developer has the rights. It depends on whether you consider the active translators as part of the team or they are doing these stuff outside the scope of Desmume team needs.
I am fully aware of your stand as far as other languages are concern.
I am merely suggesting ways to help each other out as part of the team effort (no need to fire all your "cannons" when foreign languages are mentioned).
Just my personal thought.
zeromus wrote:It doesn't make sense to me. Who is going to round up all the active translators how long before each release? What a hassle.
Welll, maybe then we need to define 'active translator' as someone who does the translation during the development cycle, while the code is being worked on, so it will be (nearly) finished when a release is upcoming ? 'active' = 'someone-that-doesnt-need-to-be-rounded-up' ? If a translation maintainer needs to be 'rounded up', then drop that translation ? Does that make more sense ?
The active translator just need to inform the team what language he is translating / updating and it is an ongoing process to check, verify and update new changes.
If you have a comm channel to gather input from / inform all other developers before a public release, just include the active translators.
If the developer adds / updates a new menu option or dialogue template, I think all languages should be updated with the english template.
Otherwise keep a text file like the Changelog to include "rxxxx", "(which menu option is added / changed)" if other languages are not updated.
Either way, it helps the translator to keep track of changes and make the necessary update.
If languages are supported, then I would suggest that there is no hardcoding of "menu displayed text" in the codes (where possible) and Unicode friendly (if possible).
Just my thought.
It doesn't make sense to me. Who is going to round up all the active translators how long before each release? What a hassle.
Welll, maybe then we need to define 'active translator' as someone who does the translation during the development cycle, while the code is being worked on, so it will be (nearly) finished when a release is upcoming ? 'active' = 'someone-that-doesnt-need-to-be-rounded-up' ? If a translation maintainer needs to be 'rounded up', then drop that translation ? Does that make more sense ?
Oh well, whatever, nevermind ..
]]>ACTION PLANNED:
We won't nuke the translations right now.
However, any translation that is outdated and stays so before the release will be nuked.Hoping everyone agrees with it.
I think it is a good idea. I will do the chinese translation since it has been so outdated and you can include me as one of the active translator unless someone else want to do the chinese translation. Also, I am in the process of translating the FAQ menu layout option (if you want it when I finish).
]]>