[sword-devel] language of module descriptions

[Chris Little]

Daniel Glassey wrote:
> Hi,
> Being an English speaker it wasn't obvious, but all the works (also 
> known as modules) descriptions are in English. Surely the descriptions 
> should be in the language of the people who will use the works?

Some of them actually are already in the vernacular. And it actually is, 
for the most part, the policy to do what you suggest. The problem is 
that we can't put a description in the files in languages that none of 
us speak. The fallback is, naturally, English.

> Here's what I suggest. For any new modules or modules that are changed, 
> or modules that people want to change this for:
> 
> make a new Description in the language of the module
> rename the old conf field to Description_en
> make sure both descriptions mean the same thing ;)
> 
> This mechanism allows descriptions to be made in other languages if 
> people really want e.g. Description_de
> 
> The Description_en is probably necessary as I guess not all frontends 
> would be able to handle unicode descriptions.

Not to mention the conf files didn't handle Unicode very pleasantly in 
previous versions. Description_en should also be mandatory because, 
well, it's the most common language in the world and it helps us with 
organization.

> It is not a priority to change old modules but I think it would be a 
> good policy for new modules.
> 
> Another thing that would be useful is an About_en (at least from my 
> point of view trying to understand the copyright details of modules).

I concur.

--Chris