[SCIM] Translation of SCIM panel

[Ming Hua]

On Tue, Jun 29, 2004 at 01:33:11AM +0900, Yukiko Bando wrote:
> Since we expect lots of new users of SCIM in Mandrake 10.1, I think it would 
> be nice if the setup panel can display in native languages, at least for 
> Chinese (zh_CN, zh_HK, zh_SG and zh_TW) and Japanese (ja_JP) locales.  I can 
> see it has English and simplified Chinese menu.  Are there already 
> translations for Japanese and other Chinese locales?  If not, I think we 
> should start to work on them now.

If I remember correctly, SCIM currently has simplified and tranditional
Chinese translations (zh_CN and zh_TW).

> Having said that, I have no idea where to begin.  I have no experience of 
> translation and don't understand technical terms well...  I'm definitely not 
> the right person, but if no one else takes up the job I'll try my best 
> (Japanese only, of course).  In that case, I hope subscribers to the lists 
> can help me. ;) 

SCIM uses gettext, which is quite standard for localization among open
source softwares.  To translate, you just get the .pot templates and
translate them into your language [0].  I think it should be familar to most
translators [1].

[0] After reviewing the web CVS, I realized that scim.pot in not in CVS,
but somehow generated during bootsrap.  So translators, for now the
easiest way to start translation is to get a released tarball (see
http://scim.freedesktop.org/Software/ScimDownload, get
scim-0.99.1.tar.gz), find the po/scim.pot template, and start
translating.

[1] For new translators, you may consult the gettext manual
(http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/gettext.html).  It's not the
best choice for beginners (too many technical details), but I can't find
a better tutorial right now.

Ming
2004.06.28

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