Translation platform

[Madis0]

Magisk (Manager) is a popular program and people want to spread it in their language. While people could just translate the app here, many translators don't know how Git works and you also keep changing the structure of the strings, which makes it even harder for translators to keep up.

I suggest Magisk Manager to use a translation platform, such as:

• Crowdin (most intuitive)
• Transifex
• Weblate (usually preferred if you want to selfhost)

[OmarNamis]

I totally agree.

I believe Crowdin is the better option here, and also it's free for open source projects.

[omerakgoz34]

POEditor.com is free for open-source projects and no need to self-host. Simple yet powerful :P

[comradekingu]

@OmarNamis Crowdin (like Transifex) has egregious terms, infuriating usability/functionality, and is only no cost for non-commercial software. @omerakgoz34 Weblate doesn't need to be self-hosted, but since it isn't "as-a-service-only", it can. https://weblate.bubu1.eu/ and https://hosted.weblate.org/hosting/ offer hosting for libre software projects.

Outside of putting eggs in the non-free basket (Crowdin, TX, POE), spying on users (Crowdin, TX, POE) is a non-starter.

[androidacy-user]

@OmarNamis Crowdin (like Transifex) has egregious terms, infuriating usability/functionality, and is only no cost for non-commercial software. @omerakgoz34 Weblate doesn't need to be self-hosted, but since it isn't "as-a-service-only", it can. https://weblate.bubu1.eu/ and https://hosted.weblate.org/hosting/ offer hosting for libre software projects.

Outside of putting eggs in the non-free basket (Crowdin, TX, POE), spying on users (Crowdin, TX, POE) is a non-starter.

Lmfao somehow using a nonfree (free as in freedom) translation platform is going to..... Make magisk go nonfree? Start spying on it's users? Wtf.

[comradekingu]

@androidacybot Magisk can't be made non-free, but to the tune of being software that wouldn't utilize all the spying scripts used on those platforms, the distinction for what it subjects its users to gets blurry. In this sense translators are not less valuable.

[OmarNamis]

@comradekingu No offense, but you have no idea what you're talking about.

Crowdin is by far the best service in terms of features and usability, not to mention their interface is much more clean and simple.

Also, Crowdin is 100% free for open source software, and you're just claiming that these services are spying on users without any proof.

Do some research next time before you start randomly accusing services.

[comradekingu]

@OmarNamis I have read the terms and services, cookie policies, etc. of every one of those platforms. My claim holds true. I even went to check again so that I am not speaking out of turn.

https://crowdin.com/pricing#annual If you're building awesome non-profit projects that could use the power of Crowdin, we're happy to help with this free option.

https://crowdin.com/page/open-source-project-setup-request You do not have any commercial products related to the open-source project you are requesting a license for.

you agree to: join Crowdin beta group and try Crowdin's latest features, contribute your project translations to Crowdin Global TM

Not only does this not qualify for "free" in any sense of the word, but the copyright for translations submitted by others (like myself) isn't for the project maintainer to do this with, subject to the terms of dual-licensing for Crowdin. I don't want to contribute to the Crowdin Global TM, and it isn't available on the terms of the GPLv3+.

Crowdin splits the translation field into far less space, meaning strings spanning longer than the shorter available space effectively have linebreaks inserted arbitrarily between the source string and translation. There is a voting system that keeps fixes for translations from being implemented because two votes are needed to change any first-come change. That ruins consistency. The overview between string-bases, languages, and the various strings and their translations is completely lackluster. Pontoon based their UI on Crowdin, and it has the exact same problems.

Libre software projects are moving away from Crowdin and Transifex, and doing so before the entire operation is kept hostage to negotiations over enterprise plans is preferable. Quality after the fact always improves sharply. I have used Transifex, Weblate and Crowdin extensively in every role. POEditor I have only used seldomly, and all the projects I translated on it have moved to other solutions. It is too simple to be useful beyond translating a handful of strings. Like Crowdin and Transifex, it doesn't have a common user-base.

Weblate has its issues too, but spying on users, and only being a (dis-)service isn't one of them.

[androidacy-user]

@OmarNamis I have read the terms and services, cookie policies, etc. of every one of those platforms. My claim holds true. [..]

It qualifies for free in the pricing sense of the word, which is what magisk would want. And you are largely incorrect: most FOSS projects are still using Crowdin. This really looks like a bunch of nonsense to me, born out of paranoia that everything they ever touch must be free as in freedom and free as in beer, and anything not must be spying on you

[comradekingu]

@androidacybot If you use "free" for that you are either underhanded, misguided, or buy into what qualifies for false advertisement in many jurisdictions, including my own. Money exchanging hands at the point of signing a license in the sense that "the license is free of cost" is not the arbiter in whether it is gratis or not. Monetizing use of the platform and treating the resulting output as commissioned work is. The latter is a requirement that you can't escape, because it is specific to the level of "free" you are describing.

I am increasingly correct, and happily always have been. «Most FOSS projects» were never on Crowdin. Even if, it wouldn't help one bit, because there is no shared community between them, so there is no synergy to speak of. Coverage is way worse there. Hosted Weblate alone has more libre software projects. As does Transifex, which is older. I translated libre software projects before it existed.

If I was paranoid that everything I touch must be free as in freedom, I wouldn't be arguing the case on GitHub.

Weblate has the same license as Magisk. I think that is better because it grants freedoms not available with the other solutions. One consequence of which is one can't operate like the "Crowdin Global TM", meaning current Magisk translations cannot be committed into it for what you call "free".

[androidacy-user]

Last I checked @comradekingu this thread was not about whether you agree with a platforms philosophy, but rather a good platform to do translations on. Keep your free as in freedom religion out of this thread and this repository, if you would.

@osm0sis can we get a cleanup here? Seems the thread went a little off topic.

[comradekingu]

OK? Whether the current strings can be put into the Crowdin TM has nothing to do with philosophy, it is all licensing. Either an enterprise Crowdin account, or possibly the "academic" one is needed to avoid that, as per the terms of those plans. An as-a-service-only platform decides exactly what terms it has, and those are its rules.

One of those terms is

https://support.crowdin.com/privacy-policy/ "If you are under 18 years of age, then please do not use or access the Service at any time or in any manner."

Crowdin does charge money for its enterprise offering, and this project is not academic. It wouldn't matter if the less than stellar terms and conditions changed, as the usability problems described would still be what they are on (the freely licensed) Pontoon.

Weblate offers better overview, the biggest community, more checks, better terms, and you can easily deal with its maintainer. If it was closed source software, that would still be the case. For whatever reason Bubu and Hosted Weblate offer good plans, those are available options to self-hosting. Weblate can also (by default) be browsed by anyone, which isn't the case for TX and Crowdin. One of the many reasons why there is less engagement between Git-type users and translators there.

I think I am fairly irrelevant, and would rather look to similar projects to see how they do on the various platforms, or when moving between them. That is a true measure of effective functionality.

[osm0sis]

Well, that was tiring to read... Thanks for coming out!

The devs will make a decision when they make a decision, and I'm sure evaluate their options critically.

[yujincheng08]

John does not want to use translation platforms.