[xliff-tools] XLIFF <-> PO filter source code contribution

[Rodolfo M. Raya]

On Mon, 2005-02-07 at 02:07 +1000, Asgeir Frimannsson wrote:


> On behalf of the project, thank you and Heartsome! 



Thanks to you for giving us the opportunity to participate in this
project.


> I'm not sure how we practically handle this. We now have 3 implementations of 
> PO-XLIFF filters currently going on:
>  - Java (heartsome)
>  - Python,  David Fraser (http://translate.sourceforge.net)
>  - c (xliff-po-tools) 


They can coexist pacifically. Users will choose their preferred
implementation. Our responsibility as developers is to ensure that all
filters can be used interchangeably, without causing any problem to the
user.


> In addition, there are two java based filters that might be released 'soon' as 
> open source:
>  - Sun's editor and filters (Tim Foster)
>  - XLIFF <-> PO filters & localisation tool project at LRC (Kevin Bargary)


It would be great to have more code available. We can try to create a
unique codebase using the best of each project.


> I'm open for e.g. adding this as another sub-project (e.g. heartsome-filters) 
> and putting the code in cvs (and I can arrange cvs access to whoever works on 
> this sub-project).  


After we agree on a license (see below), we can cleanup the code and
move it to the CVS repository.  We may need access for two developers.


> Then, As we develop a standardized PO Representation 
> Guide, this filter can evolve and the Heartsome editor (and other projects) 
> can take advantage of that. 
> 
> But this all depends on someone taking responsibility for the evolvement of 
> these filters (E.g. active participation after the donation from heartsome, 
> or some other contributor wanting to work on these). For the PO filter that 
> means altering them to support the upcoming PO Representation Guide, and 
> similar for the .properties filter. 


Heartsome can provide two developers to work on the adaptation of
Heartsome's filters to meet the requirements of your PO representation
Guide. We can collaborate with the development of other portions of the
project too.


> What licence are you thinking of releasing these under?



We have not decided yet, but it should be LGPL, Apache  License or any
other license that allows us to reuse the code from the project without
forcing us to open the rest of our sources. 

Keep in mind that Heartsome sells commercial tools. We offer portions of
our code to promote the adoption of XLIFF standard by the open source
community, but we need the ability to keep using that code in our
products.

The license displayed in your C code is GPL. Is it the licensing schema
selected for the whole project?



> I don't see it as a viable option to ditch the c-based filters in favour of a 
> Java implementation, as some of our goals with these include integration with 
> GNU build systems, and we don't want to be dependent on Java for this.


As said previously, all implementations can evolve at the same time. If
needed, we can even contribute C code too ( I have more than 13 years of
experience in C/C++).


> > This is just an initial offer. We may donate more code in the future,
> > depending on your acceptance and the evolution of the XLIFF-Tools
> > project.
> 
> The XLIFF Tools project is still at a very early stage, and at the moment it's 
> only me working on the code. I really appreciate code donations, but I can't 
> promise any contributions to these filters personally, other than helping 
> facilitating a sub-project.  


Our plan is to contribute a portion of our code now, adapt it to meet
the requirements of the project and then analyze the result of our
actions. If there is interest in what we did, we will release more code
and restart the cycle. 

Regards,
Rodolfo
-- 
Rodolfo M. Raya <rodolfo at heartsome.net>
Heartsome Holdings Pte. Ltd.
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