"Switch From %s..." couldn't make any sense in some languages

[Luca Ferretti]

Binary package hint: indicator-session

While translating this message, I remembered a i18n "issue" addressed in gnome-panel for a similar string. The gnome-panel message is "Log Out %s" (where %s is the username), and it's provided a special trick allowing translator to choose using the %s or not.

The gnome-panel details for this are here: http://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-panel/tree/gnome-panel/panel-menu-items.c#n1560

The "Switch From %s" label could suffer the same issue, so could be good add the same "trick" to let translator choose between ""Switch User..." and "Switch From %s..." messages in their language.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Wed Mar 24 11:24:11 2010
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Beta i386 (20100318)
Package: indicator-session 0.2.6-0ubuntu2
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-17.26-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
SourcePackage: indicator-session
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-17-generic i686

[Milo Casagrande (milo)]

I subscribed the Ubuntu Translations group, this is an i18n related issue, and I think it's worth to keep an eye on it.

Personally, I would prefer a solution like the on in gnome-panel. But if this needs to go in Lucid, IMHO it's necessary to take a decision in a short time and warn the translation teams.

[Aron Xu (happyaron)]

Hi Ferretti,
Could you tell us which languages are suffering this problem? I see no problem in zh_CN, which has been translated to "从 %s 切换..." and works well now.

[Luca Ferretti (elle.uca)]

Aron, take a look at http://bugs.gnome.org/130663 (Log Out 'username') and similar issue in http://bugs.gnome.org/131875 (%s's desktop).

I suppose there is no 'fixed' list of languages unable to manage this specific message (i.e. "Switch From %s") or, at least, a language able to manage the log out message could be unable to do the other one, and vice versa.

Speaking for Italian, we was able to translate "Log Out %s" (using a paraphrase), but any "Swith From %s" translation will be poor, unpleasant and misleading

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package indicator-session - 0.2.7-0ubuntu1

---------------
indicator-session (0.2.7-0ubuntu1) lucid; urgency=low

  * debian/control
    - Dropped Vcs-Bzr and Vcs-Browser

  [Ted Gould]
  * Upstream release 0.2.7
    * Adding a switch for translators if the "Switch From"
      translation doesn't make sense (LP: #545893)
    * Scale avatar icons to menu size (LP: #542505)
    * Fix strings to have all be "Shut Down" (LP: #545578)
  * Remove debian/patches/restore_lock_screen.patch added by
    downstream.
 -- Ken VanDine <email address hidden> Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:23:13 -0400