German language files

["Hanno Mueller" <hanno @ lava . de>]

I wasn't able to install Md2 on my linux pc at home. Thus I haven't been
able to actually do something productive with the code, sorry.

I got a bunch of error messages about the "sessions/" directory which
apparently needs to be created by the installation script, but isn't.

Without the sessions directory, "t/shell" failed.

But even with the sessions directory, the "mj-shell" command of the
installation failed. Too bad.




Nevertheless, I took the time and created a German language set, so that
we now have something to play with. I haven't translated the help texts
yet as I expect massive changes for them.


You will find my suggested format for a "language.config" file there,
which I will also include to this mail. Please read the file and send me
your comments about it.

The idea is that installing a language set simply means adding a
directory to "files/". When started, Md2 will simply "require" every
file that matches the "files/*/language.config" path.

This would be very versatile. However, I do not know if this is too slow
for a site with many language sets.


Also, please let me know what you think about my suggested
"formal/informal" solution.


Greetings,

Hanno


P.S.: I have also tried to translate the Majordomo commands, but it
wouldn't work. German Majordomo commands simply do not "feel" right
because of our way of using grammar.


-- 
Alle Ampeln auf Gelb!                         Hanno Mueller, Programmer
                                              LAVA GmbH, Hamburg
                                              http://my.lava.de/~hanno/




# language.config
# THIS IS A SUGGESTION ONLY, NOT IMPLEMENTED YET



# This file contains a few basic information about a
# set of language-specific information. Language sets
# are named according to ISO 639.



# A list of alias names for this language.

# As a minimum, this should be the English name of the
# language and its own name written in its own spelling.
# If the language uses non-7bit-ascii characters in its
# own name, this list should contain both spellings
# (e.g. "french", "français" and "francais")

$LANGUAGE{'german'} = 'de';
$LANGUAGE{'deutsch'} = 'de';



# Most non-English languages differ between formal
# and informal texts. The difference of addressing
# someone as "Mr. Johnson" or "Fred" leads to a
# complete change in the use of grammar.

# As an example, in French, this is the difference
# of "Vous" and "Tu". In German, it is "Sie" and "Du".

# Subset names are standardized! If you offer subsets,
# name them "formal" and "informal"!
# XXX I do not know if there are languages out
# XXX there that have more than two different ways to
# XXX address a person. If so, let me know.

# Business users should always choose the formal
# subset of a language set, which will be the default
# setting for Majordomo2. Private users have the
# option of the informal subset. Translators should
# always offer both versions.

$LANGUAGE_SUBSET{'de'} = 'formal';

  # Examples for the above variable:

  # $LANGUAGE_SUBSET{'en'} is undefined. There are no
  # subsets for different grammars, so the files are
  # found in "files/en".

  # The existence of $LANGUAGE_SUBSET{'de'} also
  # marks the existence of subsets. It is defined as
  # 'formal'. If someone wants to choose the language
  # 'de', the files are found in "files/de/formal".
  # List owners may override this setting for a
  # specific language.

  # List owners have the possibility to choose a
  # standard behaviour by setting a variable like
  # $DEFAULT_LANGUAGE_SUBSET to 'informal'. This will
  # override all $LANGUAGE_SUBSET settings.


# Keep perl happy.
1;