[bug-gettext] [bug #49598] Allow ngettext to be used with non-English source language with more than two plural forms

[Serhiy Zahoriya]

Follow-up Comment #3, bug #49598 (project gettext):

I understand that it can be quite a challenge to implement and that you have
limited resources. I guess that you don't want to support it because you don't
know any language with 3+ plural forms. Maybe it's not the best place to
discuss it because it's a feature request / wishlist item and not really a
bug.
On that I agree.

But what you said about languages is really not right to put it mildly. I just
checked the wiki and English is far from being the main used language all over
the world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-speaking_world#Majority_English-speaking_countries
I think you extremely underestimate the number of projects that could have
non-English main language with fewer problems. Because with current state of
things every time I found an error in the English version (that was once
really-really far from perfect, plain horrible in some places) I had to redo
translation to every other language, sometimes even had to search manually for
the previous strings because English ones became too much different for
auto-detection. Also, writing new strings with some specific terminology and
even local neologisms can be a very daunting task for developers who are
trying to make things right from the first commit to avoid redoing all the
translations later.

Looks like you also underestimate the number of translators between
non-English languages. Since gettext is used so widely it's no longer just
projects that are authored by English-speakers and it's no longer just FOSS
that is better be translated to every language. It's also websites now, that
may not even have an English version.

Sorry, not everyone speaks English. But more people could benefit from gettext
and FOSS if it was truly i18zed.

Thank you for your time.

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