[Foundation-l] Language proposal policy

[Andre Engels]

On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Gerard Meijssen
<gerard.meijssen at gmail.com> wrote:

> What we do is done to make information available. Our main objective is not
> the creation of content, but the publication of content to readers. It is a
> well established fact that localisation is one of the best methods of making
> our content more accessible to our readers.

Is it well established? And even if it is, surely to make the content
available to the readers only a small section of the interface is
needed.

> Andre, you and I are fortunate that both the English, the German, the Dutch
> and the French Wikipedias have a continued great localisation. These are the
> languages that a typical Dutch person will read. Consequently ou do not know
> the problem of limited localisation because you do not experience it.

You forget that I am a LONG time Wikipedian. When I came, there was no
Dutch Wikipedia. When I went to the Dutch Wikipedia, there was no
localisation. Did I find that unpleasant? Yes. Did I find that a huge
problem? No. When the Dutch Wikipedia went to the MediaWiki software
(now called phase 3), we spent quite some time translating all the
message that then existed first. Afterward, I thought that it was too
much. When the Frisian Wikipedia started, I advised them that they
should definitely translate the namespace names, and apart from that
just what they thought most important. Anything that had not been
translated could be translated later if they needed it. And that is
what I said BEFORE there was a Mediawiki: namespace or a Betawiki.
Every new translation had to be submitted to a developer. But still, I
felt that people could translate when they felt the need for it. And
that's what I still do.

> When you say that it is a bother for editors that they have to localise, I
> will agree. However, all this work is necessary to make the content they
> create more accessible to the readers. It is the readers and getting more
> readers that everything centres around.

No person will read one page less on a wiki if the block log isn't
localised or if bureaucrats have to read the messages about changing
account names in English. Make translation possibilities available,
like the MediaWiki namespace and Betawiki do. What needs to be
translated will be translated. What doesn't need to be translated,
will take longer, maybe never. If the users themselves don't think
incomplete interface translation is a problem, why would we come in
and force them to change their mind?


-- 
André Engels, andreengels at gmail.com