Re: i18n/gettext?

[Richard Stallman]

    OK, but I don't quite yet understand what you mean by "automatically".
    Do you mean something like this?

      A translation will occur if:

       1. The programmer explicitly asks for a translation, using the gettext
          function (or something like it); or

That is not "automatic", that is a manual request.

       2. The programmer implicitly asks for a translation, by passing the
          string to a function that always translates its argument before
          using it.  For example, the Emacs Lisp function `message' would
          always translate its first argument before displaying the message.

Yes, exactly.

    (1) is a special case of (2),

In some sense yes, but that is not the useful way to look at the
question.  This decision has major implications for Emacs maintenance,
so we need to consider both alternatives carefully in terms of
their consequences.