[scribus] Scribus Forum Language(s)

[Gregory Pittman]

This is a bit of a rehash of an extended list conversation from years past.

We ended up with the recognition that we have a number of people active 
with the project who have a non-English native language, and therefore 
have the ability to respond in whatever language a poster can best 
communicate. We have had many a thread where two or more non-native 
English users struggled and miscommunicated in English before finally 
figuring out what each was trying to say, and it turned out that they 
could have done a much better job if they had simply used their mother 
tongue.

We have had some suggest that there should be alternate Scribus lists in 
other languages, and no doubt some exist, but this fragments the 
knowledge available and may lead to wrong advice.

We ended up with an attitude to try to welcome posters to the list by 
allowing them to post in the language they feel most comfortable with if 
English is unsettling to them. In practice, you will see that when a 
responder isn't sure of the answer he/she will likely translate to 
English to get a broader response. In this recent case, obviously, 
Christoph and Alessandro felt quite competent to handle the questions.

See: http://www.scribus.net/?q=mailing_list

It's entirely appropriate to ask someone for a translation or a synopsis 
of a conversation, as long as you don't feel entitled to one. Consider 
this an experience resembling what non-English speakers go through as 
they come across this list.

Finally, I would add that if you ever attend one of the LGMs (Libre 
Graphics Meetings) you will find a real-world version of this as you 
walk about the room in a sea dotted with islands of multiple language 
conversations. The fact is, no one seems distressed about this, and if 
you ask for help you may get some help understanding, but not likely a 
word-for-word translation.

Greg

PS  We always appreciate those who know how to help themselves, so one 
consideration might be to copy these conversations into one of the 
web-based translators. The English is likely to be a bit broken, but you 
will probably get some sense of what was being talked about.