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From: peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: An AmigaVision Question
Message-ID: <595@cbmger.UUCP>
Date: 27 Nov 90 16:11:39 GMT
References: <37065@nigel.ee.udel.edu> <16059@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1990Nov27.020432.11108@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG>
Reply-To: peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY)
Organization: Commodore Bueromaschinen GmbH, West Germany
Lines: 53

In article <1990Nov27.020432.11108@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) writes:
>karl@cbmvax.commodore.com (Karl Herrman - CATS) writes:
>> boily@phy.ulaval.ca (Edouard Boily) writes:
>
>>>	Just a short  question about AmigaVision!   Does someone  know
>>>what exactly  the file  'AV_Text.English' contains?   Is  it the texts
>
>> The file does contain the text files for all the requestors, Error
>> messages, etc The original file was created with a text editor and
>> encrypted. We are already working on a French translation of
   ^^^^^^^^^ (he means simply compiled)
>> AmigaVision amoung other languages.
>
>Is there someone at Commodore particularly in charge of making this kind
>of decisions to antagonize the user base?
>
>Last I heard, there are some 3000 different human languages. Don't you
>think you might be limiting your market just the teensiest bit by making
>distribution to these other language groups wait until you folks get
>around to finding someone who knows each language to do the translation
>for you?
>
>As opposed, say, to putting the file out in well documented, easy to
>modify form, and letting the vast knowledge of the user base be brought to
>bear to get the port done in 1/10 the time and cost to Commodore, thereby
>boosting your sales and hastening the return on your software development
>investment.

Oh boy, the last thing we would need would be 53 different homebrew
German versions of AmigaVision. We have here so bad experiences with
Amiga enthusiasts who are translating PD manuals into German, and
afterwards it is such a bad German that everyone prefers to read it
in English. So these works are done by the local Commodore
subsidiaries (we here in Germany doing the German version and the
French theirs), so that this will become homogenous.

And you must also consider: It is not only those text strings!
We have to wade through the whole program (ok, not we, we only send
bug reports), we must check each and every requester, whether the
gadgets are big enough (nearly ALL other languages than English have
longer words). Well, nothing for a quick hobbyist's hack.

And it is also not only the knowledge that is needed for such a task.
You also must stick to a well defined standard of expressing and
naming things. Translations must do compromises at every second, so
a different person normally chooses something totally different.
So one major task during this is to ensure homogenity throughout
the whole documentation. (If you have access, there was an article
by me in Amiga Mail Marketing about this.)

-- 
Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel  // E-Mail to  \\  Only my personal opinions... 
Commodore Frankfurt, Germany  \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk