Re: Summary (Re: A system for localizing documentation strings)

[David Kastrup]

Jan Djärv <address@hidden> writes:

> Translations does not belong in the code, that is why this
> requirement is automatically satisfied if gettext is used.
>
> We need a way to identify elisp strings to be translated, maybe
> gettext must be modified to do this.  We also need to find where in
> Emacs gettext shall be called.  And that is it, but probably hard
> work nonetheless.

It is not just that because not just strings are involved: Emacs is
permeated with English.  All the function names are based on English,
M-x is used transparently, menus are identified in the code by name,
apropos of course works on English function names, customization
groups are displayed by symbol, keyboard events are described by
symbols and so on.

Emacs has no layers separating the user from the programmer.  It is,
after all, the greatest prototyping platform for editing ever
invented.  It is quite illusionary to separate "English" from
"international" layers.  But that does not mean that _explanations_
could not be done in English, or that menu entries and help texts
could not be made in English.  Or even customization group names.  But
what about "talking variable names" which are converted into
capitalized space-separated sequences in the customize groups?
Translate or not?  If yes, how does one get to know the actual
variable name?

-- 
David Kastrup