LilyPond program strings translation

Addresses
=========

Free Translation Project (FTP)
  http://translationproject.org

LilyPond page on FTP
  http://translationproject.org/domain/lilypond.html

FTP coordinator
  <coordinator (at) translationproject (dot) org>


Instructions
============

Program strings are translated in PO files in this directory.

This kind of translation is managed through the Free Translation
Project (FTP) -- see rationale below.

The only changes that should be made to this directory are

1) applying changes made on the FTP. These changes should be
automatically notified to lilypond-devel@gnu.org list by the FTP
robot; you can also see LilyPond page on FTP.


2) updating lilypond.pot: run 'make po-replace' at toplevel, clean up
lilypond.pot header to make it look like its previous state, commit
only lilypond.pot to Git and reset all .po files, roll a tarball with
'make dist', upload it somewhere on the web (or wait for the release),
and send a notification to FTP coordinator with a link to the tarball.


Rationale
=========
Why should we use the FTP?

The FTP is designed to make software usable in more languages and
reduce software packagers work and responsability for translations, as
it organizes translations by language teams, rather than by packages.
This benefits to both users and developers; for example, translators
often volunteer without the developers need to spend time and energy
to find them, and all translation maintaining issues can be discussed
by the language team.

In a short-circuit method, translators usually send their work
directly to the developers who commit it to the sources.  The FTP is
not significantly slower, it can even be made as quick; for example,
translators in 4 languages updated 2.11.34 PO between 2 and 8 days
after I sent the notification update.

We still don't use FTP for translating the documentation, because it
has currently no infrastructure for this.


Common issues
=============

-- I'd like to commit fixes in .po for all languages
(e.g. punctuation, formatting), is it possible?

This should be avoided.  If it really saves translators' time, apply
changes to Git and notice both FTP coordinator (so he can apply the
changes to FTP too) and LilyPond translation meister (at
lilypond-devel@gnu.org).


-- The translation in my language could be improved, how can I propose
changes?

Prepare a polite request with your changes in diff format, or better
with inline comments to the original translation, and send it to the
translator assigned to LilyPond in your language, with CC to your
language team (you cand find their email addresses on LilyPond FTP
page).

If you get no reply within a reasonable timescale (2 weeks or so), or
a negative reply, and if you still think your suggestions are
worthwhile, please notice the developers at lilypond-devel@gnu.org.
We can always discuss with FTP coordinators to see what we can do.


For any other question, ask LilyPond translation meister at
lilypond-devel@gnu.org.
