[Gvsig_english] [Gvsig_usuarios] worries about the gvSIG-community

[Alvaro Anguix]

Hi,

El 24/05/13 18:00, Simon Cropper escribió:
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Following is some thoughts I have on this and related issues. In no 
> particular order...
> 
> **Issue 1 -- gvSIG is a product of Spain**
> 
> gvSIG was developed and is used primarily in Spain. Naturally the 
> primary language used by developers, content creators and users is Spanish.
> 
> If gvSIG Association/Organization wishes to extend the reach of this 
> package it needs to commit time and money to this cause rather than 
> relying solely on the non-Spanish speaking community.
> 
> Spanish-speaking people have the advantage of manuals, tutorials, 
> videos, an unambiguous GUI, etc. A head start; a footing.
> 
> Non-Spanish-speaking people lack these basic resources. What is 
> available is piece meal translations from Spanish to a variety of other 
> languages. The Non-Spanish-speaking community struggles because it does 
> not have a strong footing.
> 
> The gvSIG Association/Organization should decide what other language is 
> understood by the countries they wish to expand into then employ some 
> one - a person that speaks that language natively - to work with the 
> main teams to create core content for use by the broader community and 
> later help coordinate further contributions by the community in that 
> language.
> 
> Recommendation -- gvSIG Association/Organization should clarify whether 
> it wishes to expand into non-Spanish-speaking countries. If it does, it 
> should employ someone to work with the developers, content creators and 
> non-Spanish-speaking community.
> 
This is not correct. From the beginning, even before birth of the gvSIG
Association (that is an association with international character) there
has been a tenacity to have gvSIG (interface) and the documentation
available in the maximum number of languages. And mainly in English.
Every version of the application is available in English, there's a
mailing list, news/media plan in English, all the main posts of the blog
are written in English, there are workshops in English, manuals courses
in gvsig-training, Spanish-English simultaneous interpretation at the
International gvSIG Conference...
Sincerely I think that all the fundamental information that most of the
users need is available in English.
I think that the existing of a lot of information at the gvSIG website
has influence in this sensation. with pleasure,  Much more information
than in other open source projects. Created by us but also by the
community (that we receive and share whichever it is its language).
And much of this "complementary" information is not in English. That's
true. But I don't think that there's an only user in English, who has
difficulties to use gvSIG with the existing documentation and media.
By the way, we would contract people to increase issues and expansion
with pleasure, but it's not possible at this moment.
Seeing the evolution of the project -it's not only used in Spain mainly;
there are a lot of countries where the use of gvSIG is being extended
significantly (for example in Portuguese speaking countries like
Brazil)- the expansion of gvSIG depends on much more factors. And one of
them that we have identified as an important one is the existing of a
group of coordinators that drive spread activities. In English we are
asking for them in all this thread in one or another way. Are there
candidates?


> **Issue 2 -- Content creation is hard**
> 
> Something else I think is pertinent to this discussion - content 
> creation workflow.
> 
> To be honest the system employed by gvSIG Association/Organization to 
> coordinate its content creation and manage derivatives like translations 
> is cumbersome. I have been involved with this process and it is painful.
> 
> Recommendation:-- If gvSIG Association/Organization wishes to build 
> community it should update its Content Management System and develop 
> better workflows to manage translations.
> 
Continuing with the previous point, the website needs several hours to
design it and make it more attractive, that it would be able to minimize
the sensation that there aren't as much as things in English if there
would have had main pages that emphasise only the main interesting
points for a new user. We were thinking about this issue from some time
ago, but there are a lot of things to do, and there are priorities.
Apart from it, Plone is powerful, but it can be difficult to manage and
add contents for certain users. For that we have offer all the
possibilities always. Send us all the documentation that you want to
publish/contribute with and we will publish it. The Italian community,
for example, translated the manual and sent it to us in OpenOffice
format, and we uploaded it to the gvSIG website in the corresponding
format.
The complexity or not of the website in an internal level never has been
an obstacle to receive contributions. If you find it difficult to use,
there are alternatives always.


> **Issue 3 -- Content creation is time consuming**
> 
> Content creation is time consuming.  Despite my efforts to create good 
> content I have been unable to sustain a constant output and still earn a 
> living.
> 
> Ideally core content should be created by someone who is able to commit 
> 100% of their time, not Saturday afternoon after the kids soccer practice.
> 
> Recommendation:-- gvSIG Association/Organization should commit money to 
> employing someone to coordinate, standardize and contribute core 
> non-Spanish content.
Yes, of course the creation of contents takes time, the same than the
other activities, development, spreading, etc. Keeping an open source
project active and in a constant development requires resources. I agree
completely. And I also agree that a professional structure is needed.
This just is the approach of the gvSIG Association. For this reason is
very important to move the economical part of the project. Without a
doubt, contracting the gvSIG Association is one of the best ways to
promote the gvSIG Project. When the gvSIG Association grows we would be
able to increase and improve all these aspects.

Regards,
Alvaro


> 
> **Issue 4 -- Bridging the language barrier**
> 
> Content in Spanish can not be translated directly into other languages, 
> or visa versa. Content in a particular language needs to be vetted to 
> ensure the content reads properly by someone that natively speaks that 
> language. In addition, you need someone that understands Spanish and the 
> language the content is translated into, so the intent of the text can 
> be verified. Any CMS needs to effectively manage text, media and 
> contributors written in or using many different languages
> 
> **My preferences**
> 
> gvSIG Association/Organization commits to creating all new content in 
> Spanish and English.
> 
> gvSIG Association/Organization employs someone to specifically 
> coordinate creation of English content, coordinate in cooperation with 
> other Spanish team members the translation, standardization and 
> distribution of core content in English.
> 
> gvSIG Association/Organization looks at updating, or developing, a new 
> CMS designed for easy creation of content in Spanish and a variety of 
> other languages. All existing content should be imported into this 
> system and translated as soon as practical.
> 
> **For the record**
> 
> I think the bulk of the English content available on gvSIG is basic. It 
> shows just enough. If we ever expect gvSIG to be adopted in 
> English-speaking countries detail content on all core functions should 
> be developed.
> 
> On 24/05/13 22:33, Wolfgang Qual wrote:
>> Hello Viqui (and all the others),
>>
>> well... I think the list is already quite centralized. Setting up different
>> groups for different languages is great, it helps people to communicate in
>> their native language. But important information (like - for example -
>> information on bugs, howto's, etc.) should be also available for the whole
>> community. In many cases, these issues are rather technical, and you will
>> not need to write a big text on that. If this "important" information is
>> available "only" in spanish, this information is not available for other
>> gvSIG-users (which even could provide useful information, too). I am sure
>> that "our" community could be so much stronger. There are many GIS experts
>> around the world...
>>
>> Therefore, it would be great, if "the project" would *invite* (not force!)
>> all gvSIG users to use the english list. Or to post their questions and
>> answers in english, too. I hope that there are others who support my point
>> of view (but I am sure).
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Wolfgang
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> View this message in context: http://osgeo-org.1560.x6.nabble.com/Re-Gvsig-usuarios-worries-about-the-gvSIG-community-tp5053715p5055576.html
>> Sent from the gvSIG users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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