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

[Asgeir Frimannsson]

On Monday 07 February 2005 03:17, Rodolfo M. Raya wrote:
> 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 very happy for participants! And Heartsome (LITE) being one of the tools 
that has helped me in the research, it's really a value to get such 
experienced people participating.

> > 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.

Yep, I agree.

> > 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.

Yep. What I need for each developer is:
 - Real Name
 - username
 - GnuPG public key
 - SSH public key
 - Email address

If I get this info, I can communicate with the fd.org admins and request 
accounts.

> > 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.

And also critically evaluate the PO representation guide I hope :) 

> > 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?

Other (OSI-approved) open source licenses are fine as well, I would suggest 
LGPL. 

> > 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++).

Yep, agree. Developers get access to all modules under the xliff-tools 
project, and can contribute to all projects. (And having less than 2 years 
experience in C/C++, xliff-po-tools being my first non-university project, 
experienced programmers are appreciated :-) )

> > > 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.

Sounds fair and like a very good move of Heartsome. After reading this second 
mail, it seems we're very much on the same wave-length :) 

So what first needs to be done is:
 - Decide on a license
 - Define sub-project name (e.g. heartsome-filters) and a short description to 
identify the project.
 - Submit developer details (see above)

cheers,
asgeir