[bug-gettext] [bug #56543] Don't treat Icon= in .desktop files as translatable

[Will Thompson]

URL:
  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?56543>

                 Summary: Don't treat Icon= in .desktop files as translatable
                 Project: GNU gettext
            Submitted by: wjt
            Submitted on: Mon 24 Jun 2019 09:51:49 PM UTC
                Category: Desktop
                Severity: 3 - Normal
              Item Group: None
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
             Open/Closed: Open
         Discussion Lock: Any

    _______________________________________________________

Details:

The spec at
https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/ar01s06.html
defines this field to be a "localestring", and it is faithfully extracted to
the .pot file by xgettext.

I have never seen a localized icon, but I have seen many many cases where
translators have incorrectly translated icon names as if they were English
text, and many .desktop.in files with forlorn comments like "# TRANSLATORS:
please do not translate this" before the Icon= line.

I've opened a MR to amend the specification at
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xdg/xdg-specs/merge_requests/2. There is a
reasonable argument that the spec is technically correct: icons do sometimes
contain text, and sometimes that text should be translated or transliterated.
Even if the spec is not amended, I think it would be useful to be able to
control this on a per-project/-file/-key basis, and ideally have it disabled
by default, so that the (rare) projects that need this can opt-in and the
(widespread) projects that don't need take no action.




    _______________________________________________________

Reply to this item at:

  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?56543>

_______________________________________________
  Message sent via Savannah
  https://savannah.gnu.org/