a10n for l10n

The abbreviated title above means "Appreciation for Localization" :)

I wanted to say a word of thanks for the awesome work done by debian localization teams. I speak English, and my other language skills are weak. I'm lucky: most software I use is written by default in a language that I can already understand.

The debian localization teams do great work in making sure that packages in debian gets translated into many other languages, so that many more people around the world can take advantage of free software.

I was reminded of this work recently (again) with the great patches submitted to GnuPG and related packages. The changes were made by many different people, and coordinated with the debian GnuPG packaging team by David Prévot.

This work doesn't just help debian and its users. These localizations make their way back upstream to the original projects, which in turn are available to many other people.

If you use debian, and you speak a language other than english, and you want to give back to the community, please consider joining one of the localization teams. They are a great way to help out our project's top priorities: our users and free software.

Thank you to all the localizers!

(this post was inspired by gregoa's debian advent calendar. i won't be posting public words of thanks as frequently or as diligently as he does, any more than i'll be fixing the number of RC bugs that he fixes. This are just two of the ways that gregoa consistently leads the community by example. He's an inspiration, even if living up to his example is a daunting challenge.)