Weblate improvements funded by TDF

[stanislav.horacek]

Hello board,

I would like to ask: what is the current status of the Weblate improvements that should have been funded by TDF? It is almost one year ago when we translators were asked to prioritize a list of possibilities [1], however nothing has followed since then.

To put it into a broader picture: even if I understand that localization is not a priority within TDF, it is frustrating to see that there is no progress in the translation workflow during the time. I face to the same infrastructure and translating software issues as years ago, not speaking about ignored new opportunities or ideas (machine translation is the best example of them). As fixing some parts of Weblate could help a lot, I hoped that at least some improvements would come soon...

Thank you,
Stanislav

[1] https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/l10n/2022/msg00043.html

[floeff]

Hello Stanislav,

I would like to ask: what is the current status of the Weblate improvements that should have been funded by TDF? It is almost one year ago when we translators were asked to prioritize a list of possibilities [1], however nothing has followed since then.

To put it into a broader picture: even if I understand that localization is not a priority within TDF, it is frustrating to see that there is no progress in the translation workflow during the time. I face to the same infrastructure and translating software issues as years ago, not speaking about ignored new opportunities or ideas (machine translation is the best example of them). As fixing some parts of Weblate could help a lot, I hoped that at least some improvements would come soon...

localization is definitely a priority at TDF, so apologies if a wrong impression was created here. We are glad that with LibreOffice available in so many languages, we as a community make it possible for many people to use free and open source software. We are proud of and thankful for all the localizers, and it is one of our priorities to enable people to make good contributions and have a welcoming environment.

Indeed, we are more belated with the Weblate project than we have hoped. The truth is, we were going through some demanding times the past months which unfortunately delayed some of the projects as well, but the hope is indeed that the overall situation will improve significantly in 2023.

Aologies that also Weblate was affected from some of the delays - it's owed to the demanding situation we were dealing with. Localization is one of the key things that makes our community an international one, and it's important to us.

Before Christmas, we have worked with the Weblate people to finalize deliverables and some contractual details and I expect last bits clarified and work to start very soon now.

I used the opportunity to also talk about Weblate during today's team call, given there are reports about issues again. Just to confirm, the best way to report issues is the l10n list, alternatively Redmine. Now that the Christmas break is over, more people should be following the mailing list again, and we are currently looking into the problems. Some of them seem to be not reliably reproducible from what I heard, which make them harder to chase, but we are looking into things right now, as we understand it's a growing issue.

Christian also mentioned the latest Weblate release promises performance upgrades, and he will have a look in deploying that soon.

I hope that helps to answer the question. In summary, the past months took their toll from everyone, and that unfortunately also delayed some things, but we're all working hard to get back on track.

Florian

[stanislav.horacek]

Hello,

Dne 10. 01. 23 v 18:20 Florian Effenberger napsal(a):

localization is definitely a priority at TDF, so apologies if a wrong impression was created here. We are glad that with LibreOffice available in so many languages, we as a community make it possible for many people to use free and open source software. We are proud of and thankful for all the localizers, and it is one of our priorities to enable people to make good contributions and have a welcoming environment.

it is encouraging to see so explicitely expressed support:)

Indeed, we are more belated with the Weblate project than we have hoped. The truth is, we were going through some demanding times the past months which unfortunately delayed some of the projects as well, but the hope is indeed that the overall situation will improve significantly in 2023.

Aologies that also Weblate was affected from some of the delays - it's owed to the demanding situation we were dealing with. Localization is one of the key things that makes our community an international one, and it's important to us.

Before Christmas, we have worked with the Weblate people to finalize deliverables and some contractual details and I expect last bits clarified and work to start very soon now.

These are great news, I hoped for such an answer - so I am looking forward!

I used the opportunity to also talk about Weblate during today's team call, given there are reports about issues again. Just to confirm, the best way to report issues is the l10n list, alternatively Redmine. Now that the Christmas break is over, more people should be following the mailing list again, and we are currently looking into the problems. Some of them seem to be not reliably reproducible from what I heard, which make them harder to chase, but we are looking into things right now, as we understand it's a growing issue.

Christian also mentioned the latest Weblate release promises performance upgrades, and he will have a look in deploying that soon.

To be honest, I feel that every my report to the list is lost sooner or later. That's why I started to put them also to Redmine, maybe it is easier to track them there.

(Just for illustration, I checked that I reported/confirmed 5 issues in the list during the last year, quite reproducible, all with no resolution.)

I hope that helps to answer the question. In summary, the past months took their toll from everyone, and that unfortunately also delayed some things, but we're all working hard to get back on track.

It definitely helps, thanks for your reply, it is appreciated!

Stanislav

[floeff]

Hello,

it is encouraging to see so explicitely expressed support:)

Thanks, and sorry indeed if a different impression has been created before.

For me personally, meeting people from all over the world is one of the most rewarding aspects of engagement with free and open source software. There are often people whose native language isn't English and who travel around the globe to catch up with the community - I admire this so much.

To know that we have so many people around the world, be them community members or not, whom we can reach with localized versions of software, documentation and website, that is very important to me. It enables everyone to participate in a digital society.

I also hope to meet the Weblate people at FOSDEM in person, to talk to them and get to know each other, their tool is an integral part of our work.

To be honest, I feel that every my report to the list is lost sooner or later. That's why I started to put them also to Redmine, maybe it is easier to track them there.

(Just for illustration, I checked that I reported/confirmed 5 issues in the list during the last year, quite reproducible, all with no resolution.)

I am very sorry to hear that. We are trying hard to catch up with all that is happening. In parallel, members of the team also organize a screensharing sessin with localizers who experience problems with Weblate being slow. As we can't reliably reproduce these problems, we hope to find the issue this way to finally fix them.

Florian