Open Stack

On Friday, 9 September 2016 14:12:51 CEST Matt Riedemann wrote:
> On 9/9/2016 1:58 PM, Ben Swartzlander wrote:
> > On 09/08/2016 08:37 PM, Matt Riedemann wrote:
> >> On 9/8/2016 7:05 PM, Ravi, Goutham wrote:
> >>> Hi,
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> I was looking for some clarity around backports of bug fixes that
> >>> qualify the stable branch policy [1].
> >>> <http://docs.openstack.org/project-team-guide/stable-branches.html#appro
> >>> priate-fixes>
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> What is the policy if the fix introduces a new translatable string or
> >>> modifies an existing one?
> >>> 
> >>> The guidelines in Release management [2]
> >>> <http://docs.openstack.org/project-team-guide/release-management.html>
> >>> regarding string freeze do not specifically call this scenario out. I
> >>> see that while translatable strings are mostly avoided, some projects
> >>> have been merging changes to stable branches with introduction of new
> >>> translatable strings.
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> The question is reminiscent of one posed in the ML a few releases ago
> >>> [3];
> >>> <http://lists.openstack.org/pipermail/openstack-dev/2015-September/07394
> >>> 2.html>
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> but applies to stable branches. Should we allow changes to translatable
> >>> strings for bug fixes that matter, or is it better to always deny them
> >>> for the sake of translation accuracy?
> >> 
> >> The former IMO, a high severity bug fix trumps a translation. Note that
> >> some projects are translated on the stable branches too, I know this is
> >> the case for Nova.
> >> 
> >> If it's a user-facing change, like an error message in the API, then it
> >> might require a bit more careful consideration, but if it's just a log
> >> message marked for translation that an end user of the API wouldn't see
> >> anyway, then I think it's fine to backport it.
> > 
> > So this stance makes sense to me, but I can't reconcile it with the
> > "hard string freeze" rules. Is the theory that after we release, the
> > string freeze ends for the stable branch, and that the hard string
> > freeze only exists for that 3 week period between RC1 and final release,
> > or is the theory that hard string freeze is always subject to exceptions
> > for "critical" bug fixes?
> > 
> I treat it as the former.

Interesting: I'm not a translator in the OpenStack project, but I contribute 
as translator to other Free Software communities and I would thought as the 
latter as more appropriate. Stable is stable and string changes should be 
approved on a case-by-case, otherwise translator's life can be more 
complicated especially when the next release is translated.

But as I said I'm not a translator here.

-- 
Luigi