This document summarizes the Italian Perl documentation translation project called pod2it. It discusses [1] how the project was started in 2002 to translate Perl documentation pods into Italian, [2] that there are currently over 40 pods translated with 10 more in progress, and [3] provides instructions for how developers can get involved by joining the mailing list and translating pods.

1. th
4 italian Perl workshop - 19/09/2008
POD2::* and Perl translation
documentation project
Enrico Sorcinelli

2. What
pod2it is the Italian Perldoc Translation Project
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3. When
pod2it is born on August 21, 2002
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4. Who
A brillant idea of some italian Perl mongers
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20 translators and reviewers
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5. Why
The scope of the project is to translate in italian
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the pods that are shipped with Perl
41 translated pods (including perlfaq* and the
–
huge perlfunc)
10 pods under revision
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6. Where
http://pod2it.sourceforge.net/
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pod2it-translators@lists.sf.net
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7. How it works
It's simple: translate and commit
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There's a guide line
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We use entities for (à, è, ...)
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status.txt
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8. How to contribute
Join to pod2it-translators@lists.sf.net
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Get a SourceForge account
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Choose a pod
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Start to translate or to review!
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9. [RFC] POD2::* namespace
From: Enrico Sorcinelli <enrico [at] sorcinelli.it>
Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 23:25:42 +0200
To: perl-documentation [at] perl.org
Subject: [RFC] POD2::* perldoc translations namespace
Hi all,
One year ago, some Italian Perl Mongers started quot;pod2itquot; project,
the perldoc italian translation project (pod2it.sourceforge.net,
leaded by Stefano Rodighiero <larsen@perl.it>).
[...]
Which namespace? We have chosen POD2::<country code> namespace
[...]
There is also an idea to patch perldoc in order to add a switch (like -L)
for directly see localized translation:
perldoc -L it perlfunc
[...]
http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl-
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documentation/2003-07/msg00015.html

10. POD2::IT
0.01 Thu Jun 19 01:29:11 2003
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+ original version; created by h2xs 1.21 with options
-A -X -n POD2::IT by Enrico Sorcinelli
<bepi@perl.it>
July, 23 2005: first CPAN release
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0.12 (18/08/2008)
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%> perl -MCPAN -e install POD2::IT
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%> perldoc POD2::IT::<podname>
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perldoc's -f and -q switches don't work no
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longer

11. New in Perl 5.10!
%> perldoc -L it <podname>
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%> perldoc -L it -f <function>
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%> perldoc -L it -q <FAQregex>
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RFC: Wed, 27 Jul 2005 16:57:37 +0200
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Simple API
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– print_pod, print_pods
– search_perlfunc_re
Pod::Perldoc uses hard coded strings
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It returns a localized translation of the paragraph
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'Alphabetical Listing of Perl Functions' string

12. Future of Pod::Perldoc
Retrieve language code from environment
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variable PERLDOC_POD2:
%> export PERLDOC_POD2=it
%> perldoc -f print
Auto-retrieve language code from local, only if
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PERLDOC_POD2=1
%> export PERLDOC_POD2=1
%> perldoc -f print
For the impatient:
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%> alias perldoc-it='perldoc -L it'
%> perldoc-it -f print

13. Future of Pod::Perldoc
Message strings localization
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Failover method if requested pod doesn't exist
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POD2::* isn't installed: check CPAN and ask for
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installation
POD2::* is installed but there isn't the specific pod
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translation: automatic (or ask) switch to english pod

14. Other translation projects
www.perldoc.jp
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POD2::FR
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POD2::CN
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POD2::LT
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POD2::EO::Time::Decimal
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POD2::PT (?)
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POD2::Base
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Base module for translations of Perl documentation
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(based on IT.pm)

15. Coordinating POD2::* worldwide
pod2.perl.org
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Unique repository (CVS/Subversion)
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Mailing list
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16. perldoc.perl.org
Add translations
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upgrade for each new Perl release
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POD2::IT package isn't complete
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17. pod2it advocacy
Invite local communities to translate not only
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core pods, but also most important modules
pods. For example:
POD2::IT::LWP
POD2::IT::DBI
POD2::IT::Getopt::Long has been just
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released to CPAN
http://search.cpan.org/~enrys/POD2-IT-Getopt-Long/
–

18. Conclusions
We live in a Country (Italy) where the English
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language should be spread better but unluckly
isn't
If the Perl documentation was in locale
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language instead of English, we could have
more Perl fans. Instead, we've now a VB|
Java|.NET|Python|PHP programmers...

19. Questions?