GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 102635
Make hour format easier to localize
Last modified: 2020-11-06 20:26:09 UTC
In gnome-panel there is a msgid "%l:%M:%S %p" To make it more easily localizable this should be msgid "%X" To refer the preferred time format of the locale. Also whenever date formats are used, please consider using the preferred date format from the locale, "%x"
We're in string freeze => adding GNOMEVER2.3 keyword.
If you use %X there's really no use in marking the format for translation is there? I vote for unmarking.
Removing myself from cc: since I'm on gnome-panel-maint@bugzilla.gnome.org
Why is this NEEDINFO ???
The string "%l:%M:%S %p" is used to allow translators to change the format for the clock when the user has chosen the 12 hours format. Using %X would mean that we'd remove the pref for using 12 hours or 24 hours format. Is this something that we wish ? I'm sure lots of user would complain about that.
So, err, l10n people: do you think we should remove the option of the 12/24 format and remove the translatable string or do we close this bug? Or is there any other proposition?
This is problematic, because in most locales where a 24 hour clock is officially used, there is not even the concept of a 12 hour clock, let alone a proper way of "translating" such a clock (i.e. the %p does not have a meaning nor a translation). So the 12 hour option is pure crack and nonsense in those cases. On the other hand, in English locales, even ones that have adapted 24 hour clocks for official purposes, a 12 hour clock option is probably most useful to a lot of people. So this is clearly a tricky issue...
Carlos/Danilo: what do you think of this?
I'm all for using %X and %x, and leave the "tricky" part to locales (eg. where 24hour is official, yet people are used to 12 hour clock, they should probably have locale like "en_GB@ampm"). So, I vote for not marking it for translation and using %x and %X.
This bug is still here, Vincent any reason to not change by %X that seems to be the consensus from the other comments?
Sébastien: the comment from Christian is a good sum up :-) I'd say we should wait for AM/PM locales to be created before doing this.
Even better: develop user-customisable date and time formats, and use those. Discussion on locale-list@gnome.org.
Interesting I've just been hit by this one when I wanted to demo the fact that locale files help to set the default locale in an application. And here we have the clock doing its own thing. Nobody will make locales, well Windows Vista now has a user locale creator, and GNOME should probably allow some sort of override. But expected en_ZA@ampm is a long shot. I'd rather see us move to %X and see the solution pop out from the people affected. At the moment its affecting many locales that shouldn't have to be adapting.
I'm opposed to using %x and friends, since they're not easily changeable and do not always reflect common practice in a country, even though it's included in the glibc package.
(In reply to comment #14) > I'm opposed to using %x and friends, since they're not easily changeable and do > not always reflect common practice in a country, even though it's included in > the glibc package. If the locale information is bogus and does not reflect the reality in your country, then that's a bug in your locale, and should be reported, and fixed, as such. It has nothing to do with the matter at hand.
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