From: Malcolm L. <ma...@to...> - 2004-06-30 23:40:19
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Greetings all, My name is Malcolm Lawrence and I=92m the guiding force behind the = construction of Babel: The multilingual, multicultural online journal = and community of arts and ideas which has recently incorporated = slashcode on our site on our Map page. If you=92re unfamiliar with Babel, we have over 300 translators in 75 = languages offering their services to help translate the site. We are a = non-profit organization, the translators are voluntary and work on the = site because they enjoy it (kind of like Linux). Those translators who = work on the site get their resume featured on the site. It=92s not = exactly an open source project because I do ask that potential = translators submit their resume or CV before being allowed to begin = translating the site so I can see their education, skills, experience = and knowledge base with translating in order to ensure that Babel=92s = standards of excellence are maintained. Anyway, as far as the goal I=92m trying to reach with Babel is = concerned, ideally one day any user will be able to submit any story in = any language which will then be able to be posted in any language and = any user will be able to post comments in any language, all on the same = page of code. But there are still some multilingual issues with slashcode and = apparently I=92m not the first person who has wanted to solve them. My = interest in wanting to solve them is primarily based upon fulfilling the = je nais se quoi of the original idea of the Babel site so I thought = I=92d step in to see if I can regain interest in solving the issues in = slashcode. I guess the first thing I=92m curious about since I=92m unfamlilar with = i18n issues with slashcode is exactly what are the core problems needing = to be solved in the code for multilingual issues and how difficult are = they to solve? With the code as it is on my site right now slash has its variable set = for US English since at the present time there is no way for an author = to post a story, nor for a user to post a comment, in whichever language = they wish. However, Cliff Wood, the senior administrator for my new ISP = as well as one of the slashcode developers, and I are currently working = on a solution which will enable other languages to use the slashcode = part of Babel, although not simultaneously. What this means is that we=92re going to have subdomains under = towerofbabel.com for 8 other languages (to start off with) to have their = own particular version of Babel=92s slash code. The other languages = we=92ll start with will be Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, = Estonian, Japanese and Russian. I=92ve chosen these languages initially = because with the exception of French they are all languages which are = currently using slashcode successfully. (To see them all go here. What I = plan to do is have each language=92s slashcode page linked to their = respective flag off the homepage and designate the particular = language=92s subdomain using these l10n codes into the url. For example, = ja_jp.towerofbabel.com for Japanese, eo.towerofbabel.com for Esperanto, = etc. As far as my goal for Babel is concerned, that will obviously be the day = when we won=92t necessarily need other language-specific versions of = Babel, as all languages will be compatible in the same page of code, but = as you=92ll see from my idea below, perhaps other language-specific = versions of Babel would be an entirely separate idea which is worthy in = its own right. What I'm curious about as far as using subdomains are concerned = is...will each one use it's own slash and in essence be segregated unto = itself or would it be possible to have a mezzanine effect, whereas the = user chooses their flag, which maps to their language's particular = subdomain, but the stories for each slash are from one main slash which = each slash would view? Is such a thing possible or doable? I=92m also wondering whether those sites which are using slash for other = languages have translated the code themselves into their native = languages and if so whether they=92ve donated their translations for = their own slash site to the slashcode community. If not, one of the = things I=92d like to spearhead is an initiative to get all of the inner = workings of the code translated into other languages and then donate = them to the slashcode development community so that when someone in = another language wishes to start using slashcode on their site, they = already have it translated and ready to go. Having slash sites = translated so that a virgin site would be all ready to go straight out = of the box in a number of languages would be a great benefit to the open = source community. Should anyone be interested in my personal immediate plans for slash on = my site what I=92d ideally like to do is this: Currently I am the only author on my slash site and I have been posting = some stories to get the hang of using slash. Ala Slashdot, any user can = feel free to submit a story or url and add their own comments. But this = is where I want to open Babel up to the world. I don=92t want to be the = only author, I want others to help me. Ideally I'd like to have not only Babel fans and contributors but also = some of the Babel translators join me as authors on the current = boilerplate English slash site so they can get a feel for how slashcode = works for a while until they get the hang of it and then once the other = versions of the slash site are up in the other 8 languages (8 other = languages only initially. Hopefully soon we=92ll have all 75 languages = up), encouraging the translators to be in charge of their particular = native language's version of the Babel slash. With the eventual goal = being to have the inner workings of each language=92s slash site = translated so they can in essence be free to deal with the code on an = administrative level in their own native language. What this means is that it would be great if, say, on the Spanish Babel = slash site there were a handful of authors who were Spanish translators, = and hopefully not from the same country. It would be ideal if there was = one author from Argentina, one from Mexico, one from Spain etc. so you = could all post stories or even find some yourself about issues = particular to your specific country or your specific artistic passion. What I=92m basically trying to do is take i18n and l10n and tie them = together in a meaningful and constructive way. So in essence there would = ideally be three language settings for slash: 1. One setting where any user will be able to submit any story in their = own localized language which will then be able to be posted in only = their own localized language and users will be able to post comments in = that localized language. (For example, Spanish speakers in Peru would = have a slash dealing with their own localized version of Spanish at = =93es_PE.towerofbabel.com=94.) This is currently how slashcode is = configured, to operate as a localized code. I=92ll call this a single = slash. 2. One setting where any user will be able to submit any story in their = own particular localized language which would then be posted on their = own particular internationalized language version of the code. (This = would be unnecessary for many languages such as Welsh or Finnish.) For = example, posters from Spain, Mexico and Argentina all being able to post = their stories to a main Spanish Babel slash at = =93es.towerofbabel.com=94. This would be an internationalized slashcode = if it were to be confingured. I=92ll call this a double slash. 3. One setting where any user will be able to submit any story in any = language which will then be able to be posted in any language and any = user will be able to post comments in any language, all on the same page = of code. This would be a multilingualized slashcode if it were to be = configured. I=92ll call this an omni slash. Please let me know whatever comments, suggestions or ideas you may have. Malcolm Lawrence Editor-in-Chief Babel: The multilingual, multicultural online journal and community of arts and ideas. http://www.towerofbabel.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Babel reminds you: Do not underestimate the power of an unbifurcated = garment. ------------------------------------------------------------ |