translation uploads from old series replace the current series translations

[David Planella]

I've had several reports of translators fixing strings in Launchpad and then noticing that the previous (not fixed) strings reappear again.

I think this might have to do with message sharing reimporting strings on every upload, regardless of the distro series:

Here's an example:

* First of all, notice the suggestion with wrong encoding in this message:

https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/natty/+source/apt/+pots/apt-all/sl/+translate?batch=10&show=all&search=Package+%25s+version+%25s+has+an+unmet+dep%3A

It's a message that has been corrected several times both in Launchpad and upstream. It comes from apt and it was fixed upstream in Natty, but not in Maverick or Lucid.

* Now have a look at the apt publishing history:

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+publishinghistory

So if I understand the logic right here, despite of the fact that the string was fixed in Natty, every Lucid or Maverick upload to either -proposed, -security or -updates will reintroduce the string with the wrong encoding.

I would suggest to add a mechanism to give more priority to translations coming from the latest versions of a package, so that older uploads do not introduce regressions and have translators play catch.

Thanks.

[Francis J. Lacoste (flacoste)]

dpm's rationale for High:

Right now the latest package upload with translations, regardless of the distro series, will be used as the source for current translations and these translations get propagated to all series. This means that a Lucid upload will take over as the current source of translations over Natty. This tends to confuse translators and overwrite their fixes (i.e. data loss) done in Launchpad.