Titan_M2 GrapheneOS is not interested in the usual "crowdsourced" way to do translations.

For the OS, services, and docs to be translated, it would have to be done by dedicated teams which are capable, highly skilled and able to work fast.

It is extremely important that translations are done on time to avoid half of the strings being translated while others are not, and to ensure that the meaning of settings etc. is captured 100%. Something being unclear in the translation can mean someone toggling the wrong thing, which can do real damage.

      Titan_M2 Could GrapheneOS consider community contributed translations via https://crowdin.com ?

      It would be great to support more languages. Clearly many GrapheneOS users -- and potential users -- would benefit from support for languages other than English.

      A many-editors model works for Wikipedia. But it works because of the moderators who ensure quality, mediate disputes, clean up mistakes, ensure consistency, etc. I suspect the GrapheneOS team would be interested in people willing to take on management/infrastructure/coordination roles for translation, and that having somebody in such a role would be a prerequisite for individual volunteer contributions.

      Please note that I do not speak for the GrapheneOS project.

        2 months later

        Would it be possible to review this once more? I mean, would it not be beneficial to create the foundations for localization ready and then decide how you want to control the quality of the translations in some way. Some kind of local file support would be a good first step for anyone interested.

        I would be interested in localizing to Finnish, since I recently installed GrapheneOS for my mother, who only has a basic knowledge of English. I have never tried Finnish before with GrapheneOS, so the reality came as a suprise for me as well. Of course, majority of the OS is already in Finnish, but the GrapheneOS specific parts are here and there mixed in.

        • de0u replied to this.

          matchboxbananasynergy For the OS, services, and docs to be translated, it would have to be done by dedicated teams which are capable, highly skilled and able to work fast.

          I'm actually happy to hear this. There are too many open source projects with terrible translation quality, leading to user confusion because the translator either mistranslated or provided imprecise translations for technical terms.

          • modu replied to this.
          • N1b likes this.

              modu Would it not be beneficial to create the foundations for localization ready and then decide how you want to control the quality of the translations in some way.

              My (completely unofficial!) sense is that a commitment from a manager is viewed as the foundation. While tools exist, they do not by themselves result in coverage or accuracy. Setting up tools without the human infrastructure to deploy the translations could result in volunteers wasting their efforts and feeling mistreated.

              So far this thread has (understandably) heard from people hoping translations can be added. It would be good to hear from people with experience running a successful translation team.

                Relaks You are probably correct on this one. I just checked Weblate and it's and at a first glance it seems to be a terrible tool for managing localization if the translator has no deep knowledge of the product's layout design and such. Where are the tools that give example use cases of the strings in, for example, UI elements. Now that I wrote this line, I might start capturing screenshots and context concerning localizing GrapheneOS.

                    a year later

                    matchboxbananasynergy Alright, so what is the plan then? Never support localization and leave the language barrier for the broader audience as it is, or allow crowdsourced translation where people can easily correct any mistranslation, etc (just like open source!).

                    Idk what you mean by "dedicated teams", are you implying a contract work with translation companies? I doubt they can even install alternate OS, let a lone figure out the correct technical translation terms and FOSS terms, etc. You can only achieve this kind of quality from your own community that are already familiar with it.

                    Here are solutions to the most problems you mentioned:

                    If you are worried about the translation quality & getting translations on time, you can pay a translation coordinator that has a good profile across translation platforms like Weblate, Crowdin etc, and contributed to large open source project and have a good reputation (because some spam machine translations and racks up contribution stats). Then they can translate and review community translations.

                        horde
                        Who can pay? Of the multitude of users, how many have donated even a small sum, let alone enough to pay for a commercial team of translators that will expect profit? Perhaps GOS should develop a subscription model, wherein coders can be paid properly, and other money can bring forward other projects. At which point half of the users will drop out, leaving everyone else to pick up the tab.

                            PaulDavis It is up to GOS team to manage it. I didn't understand what is frustrating to you?

                                horde
                                Where will the money come from to pay for the translation team?

                                  12 days later

                                  modu I just checked Weblate and it's and at a first glance it seems to be a terrible tool for managing localization if the translator has no deep knowledge of the product's layout design and such.

                                  There is the possibility to add screenshots. You can also save an image to several variables. It can also be seen on the Weblate feature page. https://weblate.org/static/img/BigScreenshot.png

                                  It is a good translation software, the administrator (uploader) just has to make an effort with the configuration. The documentation will be helpful.

                                    @horde
                                    @lord

                                    Frankly, these repeated requests for localization are good to see and obv should be expected to grow as popularity does and it's a given that this will eventually need to be addressed. I trust the team to do what they've always done before: prioritize security features first and only implement something/anything new when it can be done the right way.

                                    "The right way" sounds like platitude if you're new to GOS. If no, then you know what I mean. That being said, for me and no doubt, most here:

                                    I'd like to thank the folks who have offered and seem so eager to contribute. Not all heroes wear capes and not all contributions are monetary. It is admirable and speaks to both the effectiveness of the project and the character of the would-be contributors, all.

                                    I implore you, do not be too discouraged and please DO stick around! Continue to promote localization and continue to promote and share the OS and spread the word. As a fellow, ardent user myself, I appreciate you.

                                    3 months later

                                    I believe anyone who is highly interested in GrapheneOS would figure out the meaning by themselves anyways. Translating the enourmous amount of text in their webpage is a lot of work too.

                                    Localisation would definitely help GrapheneOS adoption. I believe that nowadays it could be piece of cake using even proprietary AI model for GOS translations and such. I am also thinking about isn't there a way to use an official translation and add "a few" missing parts? (Just a thought)

                                      Cdc I am also thinking about isn't there a way to use an official translation and add "a few" missing parts? (Just a thought)

                                      The translations for the texts that are imported from AOSP are already present in GrapheneOS. They wouldn't need to be retranslated. They could be retranslated but that seems like enormous work for little benefit, unless the original translations are of poor quality.

                                      • Cdc likes this.