[Kbabel] [Fwd: [l10n-dev] [Fwd: [Freecats-Dev] The other side: "Commercial" TM tools (cont.)]]

[Dwayne Bailey]

> I'm quite puzzled about the features. I've never seen a commercial CAT 
> product, but the web pages for the commercial tools do not seem that great 
> to me.

Neither have I.  But in talking to local Government translators I 
wondered if we couldn't expand KBabel to do what these CAT applications 
do.  I also browsed the features list and couldn't really find anything 
that stood out for me.  My thinking is that most of them are extracting 
translatable text from files to make life easier for transaltors - doh.

> Probably the key area is a large-project management features support. But 
> I'd like to hear more on this topic. At least, KBabel should be able to 
> work as a GUI client for their server.

I have some proposals out to do such a think.  Probably in line with 
what they envision.  We'll see.

> 
> One point I don't like is that they want to define their own format, even 
> worse, based on XML (just look at the sizes of current PO files!).

Another format :).  What I do like as a projct goal is to be able to 
generate translatable files in any format to allow people who use 
commercial CAT tools to help translate PO. OpenOffice and Mozilla files.

-- 
Kind regards
Dwayne Bailey

Obsidian Systems
dwayne@obsidian.co.za     +27-21-448 9265 / 7827 (work)
+27-21-448 9574 (fax)     +27-83-443 7114 (cell)

"An English-only, or even an English-mainly, policy necessarily condemns
most people, and thus the country as a whole, to a permanent state of
mediocrity, since people are unable to be spontaneous, creative and
self-confident if they cannot use their first language"
          Dr Neville Alexander - 'Where English can Serve but not Empower.'