[dsdl-comment] Re: Progress report on possible Apache project for DSDL libraries

David Crossley wrote:
>>>
>> I will try to find out about the language issue.
>> To follow, see:
>> "accommodate non-native-English-writing developers"
>> http://markmail.org/message/fbifvlpzi7hdp22p
>>
 
David has made a suggestion that the Apache mail lists have a
"translate" button added to them. I think that is a really great idea.

I think it would show a basic amount of respect to people from other
language groups. I can imagine that there may be people who would
appreciate it as a safety net, even if they did not have to use it. Of
course, English would be preferred.

I have direct experience of this by the way. My company's early
Schematron Validator which we provided free, and was quite popular for
schools, was a VB proof-of-concept application, and very reliable. The
developer of the RELAX NG engine was not confident in English: actually,
his English was entirely fine for the few support questions I had, but I
think his focus was on his code, not participation in a forum in a
difficult language.

I think there are probably far more people in that class than in, say,
Murata's class of fluency. I ask myself, would I do any open source work
if I had to participate in German or Japanese (which I have studied at
really basic levels, but which I am entirely non-fluent in, apart from
buying things in shops)?

Cheers
Rick Jelliffe

--
DSDL comments
To unsubscribe, please send a message with the
command  "unsubscribe" to dsdl-comment-request@dsdl.org
(mailto:dsdl-comment-request@dsdl.org?Subject=unsubscribe)