Monthly Archives: September 2011

Switch: gNewSense to Trisquel

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Of course this replacement needs to be, like gNewSense, an entirely free GNU/Linux distribution – no restrictions. The website of the GNU project contains a list of free GNU/Linux distributions which I used as a list of candidates for the replacement. There I looked for a general purpose Linux distribution which is both beginner-friendly and up-to-date.

http://trisquel.info/files/trisquel-logo-compact.pngHaving had a quick look at the different distributions, I thought Trisquel GNU/Linux was the best choice. It’s an entirely free Ubuntu-based Linux distribution designed for various audience. Installation is easy and very similar to that of Ubuntu. The standard version of the recently released Trisquel 5.0 comes with a very nice looking GNOME 2 desktop. And best of all, Trisquel is being actively developed. The latest version, Trisquel GNU/Linux 5.0 STS, was released on the 17th of this month.

As of today, getgnulinux.org recommends Trisquel GNU/Linux to people who want a 100% free and beginner-friendly Linux distribution. Head over to the Choose a distribution page and check out the new face in the list. Its description is an edited version of the description for gNewSense. Most part is the same which should make it easier for translators. Now, writing is not my strongest skill, so if you find any flaws in the description (or anywhere else for that matter), please let me know, or better even, file a bug.

Any thoughts on the switch? Please leave a comment.

Updated translations and transfer to Transifex

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It’s been a while since my last update. These last weeks have been a busy period for me with other projects I’m working on and school just having started. Last night I felt like working on GGL.org again and I spent about 4 hours on merging the rest of the translations (amongst other improvements to the site). It turns out I initially merged only half of the original translation files (doh!). Hence a lot of the translations were missing on the website. I’m pretty sure I merged everything this time, so head over to getgnulinux.org and see if all your translations are there. Note that some translations might be marked as fuzzy which won’t be displayed on the website.

I’ve also spent some time testing this new translation system called Transifex  (thanks Vyacheslav for the tip!). I must say it’s a great translation system which, unlike Launchpad Translations, has good support for fuzzy translations. It even has an auto translate feature. The only downside is that I’m missing a few basic functionalities, but that won’t be a deal breaker (unlike the lack of support for fuzzy translations).

Another translation system I tested is Pootle. Pootle seems like a great system as well, but it was too much trouble for me to set up. I had it running on the web server eventually, but then there were problems with dependencies that could not be satisfied. Not to mention that it would have to run on our server which would mean even more system load and maintenance.

So I’ve decided to give Transifex the green light. All translation files have been transfered to Transifex; the project page can be found here. At this moment only authorized users are able to submit translations. I’m still figuring out how to allow anyone to submit translations like it is possible with Launchpad Translations. For now, translators can create an account on Transifex and join a translation team which gives you permission to make translations.

I’d be glad to hear from you translators whether the new system works for you.