Domas Mituzas wrote:
Hi!
Certainly having English as the default UI is a good thing, but it does not help a seven year old French girl to find a picture of a "cheval".
Example of commons is really worst you could pick. First of all, we shouldn't use mediawiki for image repository at all ;-)
I agree up to a point. The thing is however that we use MediaWiki for Commons; it is no use crying over spilled milk. The question therefore is how to make Commons work using MediaWiki and technology that makes the content available not hindered by the current insistence on English and Latin. That is a challenge I think the WiktionaryZ technology is getting ready to address,
So it does cost but is there an alternative, an alternative that provides us with the required functionality ??
I did hear about technology in the works, that will make all translations magic - puff, it is all in there. No, there is no other technology. Hence it is question of functionality, sometimes.
There is no technology that will make the need for translations disappear. What Multilingual MediaWiki will do is make it possible to have content indicated as being of a language at the article level in stead of at the database level. Then again, you may have read the specifications of Meta. FYI development on MLMW had to start all over again because of health issues that made it impossible for the first developer to finish it. MLMW is again under way and there have been some private showings of where it is currently at.
WiktionaryZ already shows content based on the language selected as the User Interface; this is triggered when the language of content and the language of the UI are the same. When a DefinedMeaning does not provide a definition or an Expression in the language of the UI, the content will be shown in English. When there is no English, you will get whatever is available. The functionality to show the language names in the language of the UI has been programmed, it just needs to be activated. This is for Erik to do.
Thanks, GerardM