Re: [Synaptic-devel] Re: Typo

[Jean-Michel POURE]

Le Mardi 25 Novembre 2003 16:48, Sebastian Heinlein a écrit :
> %s is a placeholder for a variable in the string. "%s" is set at
> runtime. %s is "package" or "packages". So the same sentence can be used
> with one or more essential packages.
>
> Perhaps we should change this in the next release and use a whole
> sentence for one and more packages each.

Dear Sebastian,

Most non-European languages are very different from European ones. Some have 
no verbs, others have no adjectives, some stick nouns together, let us not 
speak about Asian languages with Glyphs or Right to Left languages.

Therefore, a %s placeholder should never be used to build a "programmed" 
sentence. For example the string "I am very %s" where %s is "happy" or 
"unhappy" is typically wrong.

Because the computer does not know grammar in every language and never will.

Now, when translating "<b>Warning:</b> %d essential %s will be removed\n" into 
German, you cannot simply replace %s with der "package" or "packages" because 
the adjective "essential" needs to be singular or plural. Boom!

People who think you can use plural Gettext too are F***S. They never studied 
languages and think it is possible to map plural nouns. Plural Gettext is an 
historical error. Never ***ever*** use Plural Gettext.

On the converse, you can replace %s with an IP address, the name of a 
computer, name of a package, etc... Any value which never changes.

For the same reasons, I doubt that the half sentence "but it is to be 
installable" is translatable into Asian languages. Same as with "package is 
not installable" should be "Package %s is not installable." or the like.

After release, this would be a good idea to fix all these half sentences. 
Synaptic is one of the most promissing software in GNU/Linux. All its strings 
need to be translatable.

Best regards,
Jean-Michel