Welcome to the Translation Project
The Translation Project (the TP, for short) aims to get maintainers and translators of free (open-source) software packages together, so that most computer programs gradually become able to speak many languages.
On these pages you find a list of packages for which translations are handled by the Translation Project, and a list of teams that handle the different languages. Each team page offers contact information, pointing to mailing lists and home pages.
There is an explanation of why translators need to disclaim the copyright on their translations for the FSF (not assign it, just disclaim it), and an explanation of how to deal with the robot that handles the PO-file submissions.
There are also detailed explanations for package maintainers, for team coordinators, and for individual translators. If you still have any questions, you can write to the TP coordinators.
Translation tools
The Translation Project only handles translations for packages that have been internationalized through the use of gettext. See the online manual or run info gettext or your local machine for all the details about this package. If it's not already installed on your machine, you can find the latest version via GNU's mirror list.
To make translations for packages that have been gettextized, translators can use just a simple editor, but programs like Lokalize or poEdit make their work quite a bit easier. The Tools page lists these programs.
Reporting bugs
If you encountered a translation bug in one of packages handled on this site, please report it to the email address that is given on the relevant team/language page. See the list of languages for an overview.
Discussion
If you are interested in discussions about translating and translation-related software, consider joining the technical discussion list at http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/translation-i18n. Problems with localizing software packages, questions about the PO-file format, and tools for helping the translator are on topic there.
Acknowledgements
The Translation Project was started in 1996 by François Pinard, and run by him for more than five years. In 2001 Karl Eichwalder and Martin von Löwis became the managers of the project. Mid-2007 Benno Schulenberg revived the project and led it for one year. Then from mid-2008 the TP was led for five years by Erwin Poeze. Currently it is being run by Benno Schulenberg. He can be reached via <[email protected]>.
For many years this project was hosted at the Department of Computer Science and Operational Research (DIRO) of the University of Montréal. We thank the staff at DIRO for their long-time support. Since the summer of 2007 the project is hosted by Vrijschrift.