Improving accessibility for translators using Transifex etc

[tkoyama010]

The translation of this repository assumes that you are using GitHub to edit po files. https://github.com/pyOpenSci/python-package-guide/blob/0786310017fce7123baa2f22942436713b866229/TRANSLATING.md?plain=1#L142-L144

However, as described in [PEP 545 - Python Documentation Translations

• Translation tools](https://peps.python.org/pep-0545/#translation-tools), there are more accessible and collaborative solutions, such as Transifex. Migration to these will be necessary in the future.

[!NOTE] If the size of the translation project is as small as it is now, we are not in a hurry to solve this problem, as it is sufficient as it is now.

[flpm]

Transifex and other similar sites can be handy in some projects, but it did not feel like a fit for PyOpenSci.

Note: for someone not familiar, Transifex is a TMS (Translation Management System), a site that manages your translation files for you and serve as interface for the translators so they don't need to interact with git or GitHub.

One of the goals of PyOpenSci is education, automating the translation contribution felt like missing a great opportunity to provide people new to open source an easy way to learn how to use git and GiHub and go through the open source contribution cycle.

Using Transifex also has the downside of the contributor not getting GitHub credit since Transifex is the one making the PR, which denies a bit the "reward" and the satisfaction of seeing your first contribution.

But as you said, there are many pros and cons and we can always consider the "cost" of maintenance versus the education side, at some point it may make sense to change course.

[tkoyama010]

+100 Thanks.

[lwasser]

I missed this issue while trying to figure out Crowdin. I noticed that the PyData Sphinx theme uses transifex too (or it's mentioned in their docs). I think there are two sides of this

Positives

1. If we have an online platform that people can use BUT syncs both ways, it might open the doors for people to participate in open source who may not want the GitHub experience. Our translations might move more quickly, which would make the content accessible to more people, faster.
2. We could also have a visual of how far along the translations are

Downsides

• As @flpm mentioned, a contributor loses the ability to gain experience (and visibility) with a GitHub contribution.
• More infra to maintain.

We could experiment with crowdin a bit at PyCon us?