Grant to Translate.org.za

Last month, Mozilla approved a grant to the software localization organization Translate.org.za (Translate) to help improve their Translate Toolkit.  We did this because Mozilla and Translate’s missions are very well aligned, as both organizations are motivated by promoting openness and opportunity on the Internet.  Because so many Mozilla (and FOSS) localizers use Translate’s software, we hope that our support will help amplify the impact they are having in so many translation communities.  Therefore, we are giving a grant to Translate for $70,000 to advance their mission by further developing tools for open source software translation.

More on the grant

In the past, I’ve blogged about similar grant making efforts (See grant to PCF).  When Mozilla distributes a grant to individuals or organizations, we stress leverage as we seek the best ways to support our community.  This grant to Translate fits well into that paradigm.

Translate’s software is used by several Mozilla localization communities (presently 17 different teams) who work so hard to translate Mozilla software perfectly so that it can ship in their native languages.  Also, it is our hope that Mozilla will be able to use Translate’s Toolkit platform as one of a few starting points to improve our localization process (see Verbatim).  So many member of our community create tools to enhance localization and Translate is one of the many that has made great progress.

More on Translate.org.za’s Toolkit

The Translate Toolkit provides several programs and utilities that help during the stages of localization. It provides file converters and tools to help in quality assurance and project management.  Once a standard localization format is used, it creates possibilities for writing tools that operate on well understood localization formats.  The software can also provide rich functionality for project management, quality measurement, and quality assurance.

If you are familiar with their software, Translate’s Toolkit can

• migrate translations during the life cycle of the software project
• identify new or changed translations on a product upgrade
• estimate the required work for translating a new application or updating existing translations
• compare with or reuse translations from previous localization projects
• test for certain localization errors (critical, functional or cosmetic), avoiding “breakage” of the localized application
• choose from a wide selection of localization tools (FOSS or proprietary)
• review translations, since the source and target text are always associated
• build a language pack for immediate testing of changes made, even from partially translated files.

As you can see, the toolkit provides a lot of the basic building blocks that are required for making localization easier. It also provides rich functionality for application developers on which to base their localization software, something Mozilla is very interested in doing in the near future.

If you haven’t check out the software yet, you can start by viewing these great screencasts from project leaders, Dwayne Bailey and Friedel Wolff.

Going forward

Wil Clouser is the Mozilla engineer who has been working on localization and has taken leadership in developing what we are now calling our Verbatim project (referenced above).  Verbatim will be using Translate Toolkit (specifically Pootle) as a starting point for our effort to improve our localization platform.

As alluded to earlier, for all the localizers in the Mozilla community who wish to use Translate’s software for their localizations, Dwayne and his team will be working to improve the existing toolkit.

As a side benefit, Translate’s toolkit can ensure that important translation files for Mozilla applications can be converted to other translation formats used in FOSS. This allows collaboration with other FOSS localizers and can make it easier for others to join.

Perhaps you’ll agree with me that Translate is doing fantastic work to make the translation of FOSS software better for everyone.

Thanks

Many thanks to Axel Hecht (Pike on IRC), Mic Berman, Pascal Chevrel, Chris Hofmann, and Wil Clouser.  Each of these individuals played an instrumental role in evaluating this project.

Most of all, special thanks to Dwayne Bailey and Friedel Wolff and the team at Translate.org.za.  They hung with us through a long and, at times, tedious process, answering our questions and giving us all the data we needed to produce an really well-informed decision.

Tags: l10n, l10n tools, planet | Categories: Uncategorized