Friday, June 17, 2011

The Gnome Swahili Translation Project

The Gnome Translation Project is an Ubuntu/Linux effort that seeks to provide a unique experience for the end user running any distro,that of native language support. It is a massive undertaking that spans nations and continents and this time around it's in Africa with focus being on the Swahili language.
It is open to anyone and not much is required in terms of computer skills except maybe for the basics. In addition to that one has to register as a contributor for the translation programme with emphasis being on working together as teams. This can be done at this link. Once that is done, the next step is to download the translation files for the programmes one is interested in translating. the link for doing so can be found here and is in the form of an archive with a .pot extention at the bottom of the page.
Once that is done, all that is left is the piece of software that you will use to perform the actual translation. A recommended software application is Virtaal which is easily obtainable as a package on the software repository of whatever distro one is running.Virtaal is a relatively easy program to use and the on hand tutorial that is part of its documentation makes any problems you might have all the more easier to handle.
Upon complete translation of any particular programme of your choice, the next step is to upload your work on the same site where it is verified and put through all the checks and balances before being published with credits to you.
For any support you may need in word translations feel free to check out the Kamusi project website.

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