Can we move kf5_entry.desktop files into kconfigwidgets.git?

[Alexander Potashev]

Hi Luigi,

Thanks for the link! While this is a great initiative to deduplicate
code, I didn't find any specific proposal for how it would replace
kf5_entry in kconfigwidgets. And if we were to indeed get rid of
k5_entry in favor of iso-codes, it's going to be tricky: there's no
1:1 mapping of KDE localizations to ISO 639 languages, for example:
 * en_GB is not listed in iso-codes,
 * The 4 variants of Serbian l10n found in KDE don't have respective 4
entries in iso-codes.

The KLocale update also seems to be a plan for KF6. Assuming this is
the case, we'd need to keep and maintain kf5_entry files [next to .po
files] for KF5 for another 3-5 years. I would like it better if this
migration completes in 1 year rather than in 3-5 years.


The licensing issue is a good point, however I believe the file move I
proposed in my first email has no effect on licensing because
 1. The same kf5_entry files are already being copied into the Git
repo every month as part of the release process, see e.g.
https://invent.kde.org/frameworks/kconfigwidgets/-/tree/v5.85.0/po/ru
 2. Similarly, the same kf5_entry files are shipped in release
tarballs, also once a month.
That said, the licensing problem you're likely referring to already
exists and it will not become worse if we move the kf5_entry files'
source-of-truth from SVN to Git.

I think the kf5_entry move and fixing the licensing problem are two
separate pieces of work that can be done independently, in no
particular order, IOW the licensing problem is not blocking the file
move. WDYT?

On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 9:46 AM Luigi Toscano <luigi.toscano at tiscali.it> wrote:
>
> Alexander Potashev ha scritto:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I would suggest that we move the files `kf5_entry.desktop` from
> > `trunk/l10n-kf5/*/messages/kconfigwidgets/kf5_entry.desktop` into the
> > kconfigwidgets source code repository, presumably into
> > `kconfigwidgets.git/src/languages/*/kf5_entry.desktop`. A similar file
> > for US English `kconfigwidgets.git/src/entry.desktop` can also be
> > moved to `kconfigwidgets.git/src/languages/en_US
> > /kf5_entry.desktop`, for consistency.
> >
> > kf5_entry.desktop files belong to source code because translators
> > aren't supposed to directly edit these files, and we can simplify
> > translations' automation scripts
> > (https://invent.kde.org/sysadmin/l10n-scripty). A side effect is that
> > `kconfigwidgets._desktop_.pot` and `l10n._desktop_.pot` would converge
> > to just one file `kconfigwidgets._desktop_.pot`, however I don't think
> > it's a bad thing.
>
> Merging files with a long history could be a bit problematic from the
> licensing point of view and I think it would be better to avoid that.
>
> >
> >
> > Is anyone currently working or planning to work on this move (or a
> > similar solution)?
> > Is there a tracking bug/Phabricator task?
>
> The plan is to actually get rid of those files, adding new classes in KI18n
> and relying on external translations:
> https://www.volkerkrause.eu/2021/05/22/kf5-iso-codes-api.html
>
>
>
> --
> Luigi
> >
>


-- 
Alexander Potashev