Welcome to the Ubuntu Translation, Localization and Internationalization start page.

Here you should find links to useful resources, frequently asked questions, guidelines and a way to get in touch with people.

General information

The goal of the Ubuntu translation team is to make Ubuntu available in as many languages as possible at the highest quality. The most important packages are those from the main repository, prioritizing on the applications which the user is likely to see in the first few hours of usage.

We also coordinate with the following teams

• DocumentationTeam - translating documentation

• Website team - translating Ubuntu Start page and other web pages

Translation of Ubuntu is done through its web-based translation system: Launchpad Translations.

New translators

Ubuntu is welcoming everyone to start suggesting translations for all applications from Ubuntu main repository.

To start translations Ubuntu you will only need an Launchpad account, good knowledge of english and your language and a quick look at the translations guidelines for your language.

You don't need to join a team to translate Ubuntu into your language. Everyone can suggest translations.

Before you start translating please check the localization guidelines for your language (you should see a link on top of each translation page). If the localization team for your language has not defined a guide yet, please consult the general guidelines here: https://help.launchpad.net/Translations/Guide

Note: Launchpad Translations can be used for translating lots of different software. Ubuntu is just one part of that. If you wish to translate Ubuntu, choose the relevant release from the Ubuntu Launchpad Translations homepage.

Resources for translators

• A set of common questions from new translators

• Check the guidelines available for your language, or you can use the generic translation guidelines.

• Frequently Asked Questions about using Launchpad Translations

Language Teams

While Ubuntu translations are opend to everyone to contribute, Ubuntu localization teams act as quality assurance team. There is one Ubuntu localization team appointed to each language.

Below is a list of activities associated to Ubuntu localization teams:

• Check and review the work of translators
• Help new translators with feedback and guidance
• Check the translation inclusion into Ubuntu and report problems to Ubuntu or upstream developers
• Keep in touch with people from other translation projects (upstream project) and syncronize the translation work, assure same translations is not made twice
• Keep in touch with other Ubuntu localization teams and help establish new Ubuntu localization team, exchange best practices with other teams

You can see the translation team list here: https://translations.launchpad.net/+groups/ubuntu-translators

Join the team if you are interested in helping, but please note that Ubuntu localization teams are QA team dedicated to check, review and approve translations.

You don't need to join a team to translate Ubuntu. Everyone can suggest translations.

If you don't see your team in the list, please open a ticket at https://answers.launchpad.net/rosetta with all information about the language you want to translate into and we will create it for you. Also please check the guide for starting the translation of a new language in Ubuntu.

Resources for language teams

• Frequently Asked Questions about using Launchpad Translations

• Guidelines template to be used be localization team for creating their own guidelines.

• List of Ubuntu specific packages - software that can only be translated in Ubuntu, or with specific Ubuntu strings.

• Ubuntu global translations import queue

• List of translations from non-Ubuntu projects waiting to be approved by Ubuntu translators. Updated daily.

• Enhanced view of the Ubuntu Translation templates - searching a package by name or upstream team, sorting across all packages . Updated daily.

• Guide for starting the translation of a new language in Ubuntu. If your language is not available in Ubuntu, please read the Translating Ubuntu New Languages page for information on creating a locale, creating an xkb keyboard and selecting fonts so that you can use launchpad.

Ubuntu I18N/L10n Issues

• Rosetta bugs - You can report any bug or add any feature request for Launchpad Translations (Rosetta) using Launchpad Bugs. For other bug, just use the normal Ubuntu bug reporting process and tag them with i18n or l10n.

• List of errors in Jaunty Ubuntu Docs - Updated weekly.

• Ubuntu bugs with internationalization tag

• Ubuntu bugs with localization tag

Release Issues

These co-operative pages are used to keep track of release-specific I18N issues in Ubuntu. Please remember to also file a bug against relevant component and link to the bug number.

• Intrepid - Ubuntu 8.10 issues

• Jaunty - Ubuntu 9.04 issues

Contact

Mailing list

The mailing list is the place where all discussion should take place. You can read the online archive of the list, or you could subscribe to the list and get involved in the development of Ubuntu localization or internationalization.

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-translators

IRC channel

For real-time interaction feel free to ask in the official channel.

• #ubuntu-translators at irc.freenode.net