[Foundation-l] Wiki Translations of Greek/Roman/XYZ classics

Mon Dec 20 20:17:47 UTC 2004

Hiho,

Viktor Horvath wrote:

>>Your edition management and pdf conversion ideas are interesting, but 
>>should probably be deferred until after we have accomodated translations 
>>and annotations.
> 
> Of course, the two-pane layout and annotations are the most important. The 
> pdf conversion can wait, yes. But I think the edition management is 
> essential; at least, the possibility of two translations to coexist is 
> essential, as one cannot imagine that all the translators agree on a 
> specific translation.

As much as people can't agree on the content of _one_ encyclopedia 
article? Sorry, I have to object. The genial thing about wikis is that 
it allows people to work in cooperation on one translation and improve 
it as best as possible.

Wikipedia is the proof that this concept works and I can't imagine why 
it shouldn't work for translations, too. Implementing features to create 
  several translation versions means wasting the central advantage of a 
wiki: collaboration.

>>All we need is for some developer to be sufficiently inspired by the idea.  
>>Until then we just need to be patient, and limit ourselves to the 
>>occasional friendly reminder to make sure that the idea does not get 
>>forgotten.
> 
> OK, thanks! It's much more comforting not to wait alone :-)

In my experience, waiting for the perfect software is the wrong way to 
go. Nobody is going to program stuff for a project which might or might 
not take off. There are more pressings things needed for the existing 
ones...

So...start now in wikisource, with the possibilities which exist - 
translations can be done with the table markup, putting text and 
translation in small parts beside each other. And if there's content and 
people working on translations, you will probably find an enthusiast who 
improves the software according to what is needed.

greetings,
elian