Re: How to localize keyEquivalent="q"?

[Yavor Doganov]

В Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:29:45 +0200, Paul Chany написа:

> Everything is compiled in to Window.app Resources but still don't works
> the "q" = "k" or "q" = "i" translations? Why?

Because that's the right thing to do.  Localizing keybindings/shortcuts 
would lead to a horrible mess:

  - One app can be translated, another one not, so common keybindings 
    like "Quit", "Copy", "Paste", etc. will differ making the environment
    inconsistent and confusing for the user.
  - With incomplete translations, you add to the mess that some of the
    shortcuts will be English, some will be translated and may require
    switching the keyboard (or even input method).  While using the
    very same instance of the app.  More confusion.
  - Some users prefer more than one language.  For instance I have
    LANGUAGE=bg:mk:ru:sr:ro.  So the translations of some programs are a
    mixture of these languages.  Some are completely in Bulgarian, some 
    completely in Russian, some Serbian + English, etc. etc.  (Yes, I
    really like that feature of gettext).  I can't really imagine what
    would happen if shortcuts were translatable...


Accelerators for menus/buttons is one thing and it's absolutely 
compulsory for them to be localizable.  But shortcuts in the application 
should be the same no matter the language, and in environments striving 
for consistency/user-friendliness shortcuts for common/known/widespread 
actions should match too across different applications.

This is not a misfeature of GNUstep and/or Renaissance.  Take a look at 
GTK+/GNOME for example.  There's a good reason for this.