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habj wrote:
Different languages translate real names to varying degree. Do you translate the name "Wikimedia Foundation" to your individual languages, or do you leave it as it is?
I've generally used/seen 'Fondaĵo Wikimedia' in Esperanto, though I'm not certain that usage is current.
For a start, I did translate "Foundation" to "Stiftelsen" ("Wikimedia Foundation" => "stiftelsen Wikimedia"). I took Wikimedia for the name, and "foundation" as a description. Then I was told that WMF technically actually is not a foundation, but a non-commercial company. If the WMF actually is not a foundation it seems misleading to translate the word "Foundation",
Well, being a foundation and being a non-commercial company are not mutually exclusive.
As far as I understand (but I am *not* a lawyer!) there isn't really a legal definition of 'foundation' as such in the US. A legal entity that is what we'd call a foundation is going to be some sort of non-profit corporation -- the incorporation is what gives it a legal existence -- and there will be some specific legal term for that which is not "foundation".
That doesn't make it "not a foundation" any more than it makes it "not a charity" or "not an organization"; it is all of those things.
In the particular case of "Wikimedia Foundation, Inc." it is considered a domestic not-for-profit corporation under Florida state law.
But what the proper translation of that into other languages and, worse, other legal systems might be, I couldn't really say. ;)
</ianal>
and anyhow translations of true names is a troublesome business.
Too true. :P
Has this been discussed anywhere? Has the Board, or anyone else, voiced opinions?
When the Foundation was young and dinosaurs ruled the earth, I tried to get clear answers about how translations of project names and other such names should be managed, but the board at the time was not really interested in getting involved in the issue. (IMHO that's a problem when it comes to branding and trademark management...)
Might be worth popping the question over at HQ, see what current management thinks, but I would not be surprised if they don't consider it that big an issue to muddle in either.
In theory this ought to be a question for the executive director (presently Brad) rather than bugging individual board members, I suppose...
- -- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com / brion @ wikimedia.org)