Elisabeth Bauer wrote:
As much as people can't agree on the content of _one_ encyclopedia article? Sorry, I have to object. The genial thing about wikis is that it allows people to work in cooperation on one translation and improve it as best as possible.
Wikipedia is the proof that this concept works and I can't imagine why it shouldn't work for translations, too. Implementing features to create several translation versions means wasting the central advantage of a wiki: collaboration.
I agree completely. And there are easy ways to handle particularly contentious bits if absolutely necessary in some context, but generally I think the right way forward would be to find a way to improve both versions until all parties are happier than with the original versions.
In my experience, waiting for the perfect software is the wrong way to go. Nobody is going to program stuff for a project which might or might not take off. There are more pressings things needed for the existing ones...
*nod* In a voluntary community, there's always a chicken-and-egg problem, and the best way to solve it is just: move forward as best you can with the tools available. This will itself generate the demand and the expertise necessary to make those tools better.
--Jimbo