Re: Guide on release notes translation?

[Dimitris Glezos]

I'm bringing this up again (CC:ing -trans-list), since I received no 
reply and FC6 is getting closer.

Dimitris Glezos wrote:
> I searched the wiki for a page explaining how the translation of the
> beats work (or should work), but didn't find any.

Is there any guide on how one should translate the release notes/beats? 
If not, could someone please write the steps one should follow?

I know the situation with Beats, moin-to-xml export and relevant stuff 
are experimental, probably temporary and fragile, but there *should* be 
a way for translators to have more than some days to translate the 
14.000-long release notes text.
> Some other questions that come to my mind concerning the relnotes 
> translation:
> Does the "release notes freeze day" mean that a translator can't (or
>
> shouldn't) translate the .po file earlier?
> Is the 'release-notes/devel' cvs module updated from the wiki before
>
> the freeze day so that we can star working on the translation before the 
> freeze day?
> If yes, how often?
> What's the best way to retain the translated parts of the older beats
>
> without translating them again?
>
> If there is such a page (targeted for translators, not beat writers), 
> someone please point it out to me (sorry for not finding it).
>
> If not, then I believe such a page would be useful, because the 
> translation of the release notes are somewhat different from the rest of 
> the docs.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Dim

Guide on release notes translation?

[Karsten Wade]

On Fri, 2006-07-07 at 01:55 +0100, Dimitris Glezos wrote:
> I'm bringing this up again (CC:ing -trans-list), since I received no 
> reply and FC6 is getting closer.
>
> Dimitris Glezos wrote:
> > I searched the wiki for a page explaining how the translation of the
> > beats work (or should work), but didn't find any.
>
> Is there any guide on how one should translate the release notes/beats? 
> If not, could someone please write the steps one should follow?

It is the same as translating any other document.
> I know the situation with Beats, moin-to-xml export and relevant stuff 
> are experimental, probably temporary and fragile, but there *should* be 
> a way for translators to have more than some days to translate the 
> 14.000-long release notes text.

Currently it is much shorter than that, I hope. :)

We are experimenting with new tools for Wiki -> XML, but there are no
plans to abandon the Wiki as the _source_ for untranslated content.
We'll continue working in XML for translation and publishing.

We are also several days behind schedule[1] to get PO files published
for translations to appear in the ISO this coming week.  For this, I am
responsible and again apologize for the delay.  We had high goals for
this release, and unfortunately are falling a little short.

If all goes well, I'll announce PO files tonight.  Anyone who is
available can translate them for this coming week.

[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/Schedule
> > Some other questions that come to my mind concerning the relnotes 
> > translation:
> > Does the "release notes freeze day" mean that a translator can't (or
> >
> > shouldn't) translate the .po file earlier?
> > Is the 'release-notes/devel' cvs module updated from the wiki before
> >
> > the freeze day so that we can star working on the translation before the 
> > freeze day?
> > If yes, how often?

Some of the wording in the schedule was confusing.  Can you look at the
schedule again and see if it makes more sense?

The key is the "Wiki snapshot".  We give ourselves 24 hours to convert
to XML.  This week it is taking longer to go from the Wiki to XML
(several days). :(

This means that there is not a chance to start translating before the
"Relnotes frozen for translators" on the schedule; that is when the XML
and PO files are first available.
> > What's the best way to retain the translated parts of the older beats
> >
> > without translating them again?

This are questions that are going to matter when going from test2 ->
test3.  None of the content from FC5 is relevant, although there may be
some exceptions if a beat writer retains something.

As we get closer to the release, some content is added, some is changed.
We do want to collect some how-tos/tips for translators for keeping
translated strings where there have been no changes.
> > If there is such a page (targeted for translators, not beat writers), 
> > someone please point it out to me (sorry for not finding it).
> >
> > If not, then I believe such a page would be useful, because the 
> > translation of the release notes are somewhat different from the rest of 
> > the docs.

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/Translation is all that I know
of.  Perhaps you can help write such a page at
DocsProject/ReleaseNotes/Translation?

- Karsten

Guide on release notes translation?

[Dimitris Glezos]

Bringing this up again, since I got frustrated (again) today while 
trying to understand how to organise an efficient translation procedure 
for the release-notes.

O/H Karsten Wade έγραψε:
> > > What's the best way to retain the translated parts of the older beats
> > >
> > > without translating them again?
>
> This are questions that are going to matter when going from test2 ->
> test3.  None of the content from FC5 is relevant, although there may be
> some exceptions if a beat writer retains something.

As I see it, much of the content is relevant and needs not 
re-translation. Probably the best way for a translator to save time is 
to translate one relnotes document (say, test2) and then put his 
translations in the tranlation memory and fuzzy-translate the next .po.
> As we get closer to the release, some content is added, some is changed.
> We do want to collect some how-tos/tips for translators for keeping
> translated strings where there have been no changes.

For this to work effiently, we could clarify to the translators which 
strings/sections are most likely to be edited and which are most likely 
not to change until the release (like, say, section titles).

This way, the translation could start earlier than the FC6 release 
freeze, by translating the not-likely-to-be-changed strings.
> > > If there is such a page (targeted for translators, not beat writers), 
> > > someone please point it out to me (sorry for not finding it).
> > > actual 
> > > If not, then I believe such a page would be useful, because the 
> > > translation of the release notes are somewhat different from the rest of 
> > > the docs.
>
> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/Translation is all that I know
> of.  Perhaps you can help write such a page at
> DocsProject/ReleaseNotes/Translation?

Karsten, I am very confused on how the whole release-notes production 
procedure and I can't create such a page. I can help though after one 
who understands the procedure add some content.

Sure, the .po creation procedure is not yet fixed. But, at least a 
document describing how and why each .po was created, would really help 
us to understand how things work and how to organize the translation. I 
am sure I am not the only translator confused about all these .po files 
that change all the time and duplicate each other's content.

(Even devel/en_US release-notes compilation with `make html` fails right 
now due to a Kernel.xml produces an xml validation error.)

I think the work everybody is doing is great and of high quality, please 
don't get me wrong. It's just that this confusion will probably result 
to the relnotes not being translated for the test releases and probably 
not making it for the final release either. Which is a shame. :/

We need (more) instructions on how (the relnotes specific) things work 
so that we can participate. :)

-dim