[Top][All Lists]
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: [Synaptic-devel] Re: Typo
From: |
Jean-Michel POURE |
Subject: |
Re: [Synaptic-devel] Re: Typo |
Date: |
Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:02:40 +0100 |
User-agent: |
KMail/1.5.4 |
Le Mardi 25 Novembre 2003 16:48, Sebastian Heinlein a écrit :
> %s is a placeholder for a variable in the string. "%s" is set at
> runtime. %s is "package" or "packages". So the same sentence can be used
> with one or more essential packages.
>
> Perhaps we should change this in the next release and use a whole
> sentence for one and more packages each.
Dear Sebastian,
Most non-European languages are very different from European ones. Some have
no verbs, others have no adjectives, some stick nouns together, let us not
speak about Asian languages with Glyphs or Right to Left languages.
Therefore, a %s placeholder should never be used to build a "programmed"
sentence. For example the string "I am very %s" where %s is "happy" or
"unhappy" is typically wrong.
Because the computer does not know grammar in every language and never will.
Now, when translating "<b>Warning:</b> %d essential %s will be removed\n" into
German, you cannot simply replace %s with der "package" or "packages" because
the adjective "essential" needs to be singular or plural. Boom!
People who think you can use plural Gettext too are F***S. They never studied
languages and think it is possible to map plural nouns. Plural Gettext is an
historical error. Never ***ever*** use Plural Gettext.
On the converse, you can replace %s with an IP address, the name of a
computer, name of a package, etc... Any value which never changes.
For the same reasons, I doubt that the half sentence "but it is to be
installable" is translatable into Asian languages. Same as with "package is
not installable" should be "Package %s is not installable." or the like.
After release, this would be a good idea to fix all these half sentences.
Synaptic is one of the most promissing software in GNU/Linux. All its strings
need to be translatable.
Best regards,
Jean-Michel