[Kde-i18n-fa] Re: [linuxiran] Fwd: salam

[Aryan Ameri]

On Saturday 21 June 2003 16:06, Abbas Izad wrote:
> Hi


Frist, I don't like cross posting, and I believe it should be avided as 
much as possible. but since you cross posted your question, I had to do 
the same.

> FarsiKDE:
> Since I found FarsiKDE on the net I have really felt appreciation
> towards friends that make this possible and their efforts making KDE
> and Linux available to Farsi speaking people.

We have also enjoyed working with you.

> However, I have noted the most useful part of the site, "mini howto"
> is in English. I cannot figure this out why? whom this site has its
> target groups, Iranian outside of Iran? English speaking Iranians? I
> guess you have a pretty good reason but I just cannot see that!
>
> If you need a hand to translate it to Farsi why not announce this on
> the mailing list!

Abbas,

I wrote that howto in 4 hours while I was sitting in university library. 
The reason that I started writing it was because I wanted to impress 
the girl sitting next to me, with my typing speed ;-) So I started 
writing something, and the next thing I know, I was wrting a KDE Howto. 
After one hour I realized that it the article was turning into 
something usefull, so I decided to work on it for a couple more hours 
and finish it. Then I sent it to this mailing list, Arash Zeini saw it 
and thought it was usefull, so he reviewed it and put it on the 
website. 

The reason that the article is in English, is that the girl sitting next 
to me didn't know Farsi, and by writing in a strange and unfamiliar 
language, I would have spoiled my chances of impressing her and asking 
her out. This is a very good reason indeed ! and I don't know why you 
couldn't see this perfect reason before !!!
And BTW I did impress her, but the relationship didn't go far :-(

But seriously sorry, no offense intended, but I think that you still 
don't get the meaning of free software, and how it works.

I happen to wrote it in English. Arash also reviewed it, and it probably 
never came to his mind to translate it to Farsi. But FarsiKDE is a free 
software project. It doesn't have a leader, someone to order you what 
to do. FreeSoftware is about people, doing what they think is the right 
thing to do. If you don't like something, don't step aside and 
complain. Join in, and help make it better. 

Sometimes, we ask for people's help about things that we think are of 
importance for the community. (like we asked for people to help 
tanslate KOffice). But we don't make a roadmap for the project. There 
are probably many documents that are better be translated and added to 
the FarsiKDE website. The whole website perhaps needs a re-design. Many 
things should be added to it, many documents in it are now outdated and 
need updating. Translating that mini-howto is perhaps one of the good 
things that someone can do. Improving it, finding mistakes in it, or 
making it better, is one other thing. 

None of us, nither me nor Arash Zeini nor Arash Bijanzadeh are making 
money out of these free software projects. None of us can work on it 
full time, we all have our works, our lives, and other things which we 
should consider. In our free time, we sometimes work on projects like 
this. I bet Arash has never earned a single penny out of this projects. 
Not to mention the fact that he has paid for storage and hosting of all 
these websites, for years, from his own pocket. 

None of us control the projects, and we want no one to control them. 
FarsiKDE should be an example for an Open Source project, in Iran. Open 
in all senses. This is *everybody's* project. If you would like 
something added to it, if you think something is missing, the go ahead, 
and DO IT(TM). 

I have always said, and I repeat again, that Farsi KDE and linuxiran.org 
are always in need of helping hands. 

> linuxiran:
> Is there any need to translate Redhat 9 manuals?

IMO absoloutly no. There are at least 1000 things more important to do 
that translating RedHat manuals.

If you are really into translating something that big, I advice you to 
translate a good Linux in to Farsi, something like O'Reilly Linux in a 
Nutshell, 4th Edition http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxnut4/ or 
Running Linux, 4th Edition http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/runux4/ The 
first one is a perfect guide for new to advanced Linux users, targeted 
for Desktop to workstation. The second one is the perfect guide for new 
to advanced Linux network admins. Currently there is a lack of Farsi 
books about Linux in Iranian market. If someone translates one of 
these, he/she has done a great help for the Iranian Linux community, 
and for the advancement of Linux in Iran. You might also find a 
publisher and earn some money for your work, and who know, if I get 
high scores in my final examinations, I might also join and give you a 
hand ;-)
 
Cheers

-- 
/* You can always count on Americans to do the 
right thing; - after they've tried everything else.
 			 Winston Churchill */
Aryan Ameri