GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 567703
Language Selection not listed properly
Last modified: 2010-06-17 00:45:49 UTC
Incorrect translation Application: gdm Incorrect text: This is a general error in the language selection in gdm. Currently, the choice of languages is dependent on the current language chosen for gdm. For instance, I have a PC setup to allow for both Spanish and English. If gdm is in English mode, the selections are listed as Spanish and English, with all country options listed in English. If its in Spanish mode, choices are presented as Spanish, Espanol, English, and Ingles (sorry about any missing accent marks, and yes, gdm lists all four options when in Spanish mode). But this should not be -- the list should not be dependent on the language mode gdm is currently stuck in. Furthermore, after choosing a language, it asks a question to confirm whether the user wants to use this mode for this session only or to make it the default. But this message is in the current gdm language, not the one just chosen. So, if gdm was currently in Spanish, and the user chose English, the message comes up in Spanish. If gdm was in English mode, whether the user chooses an English or Spanish selection, the message appears in English. Should be: Real world example: here in the USA, we have ATM and Point of Sale credit card machines that have the ability to present messages in English, Spanish, and sometimes other languages. But if its currently in English mode, they don't list an option for "Spanish?", they list an option for "Espanol?". The person selecting the language needs to be able to read his language, and his country choice, in his native language. So, Spanish options should never say Spanish -- they should always say Espanol, and English options should never say Ingles, they should always say English, with all country options being listed in the native speakers language. (So, I should always see English (USA) as English (USA), not Ingles (however Spanish refers to the USA)). After choosing a language, the verification message should always be presented in the chosen language, not the language mode that gdm is currently in. The cancel button should always be presented with an established icon indicating cancel, so the user can still choose cancel, if he made a mistake in his selection.
This would be a problem with the i18n of gdm -- according to your description of the problem, the translations (l10n) are not incorrect per se. Reassigning to gdm.
Thanks for taking the time to report this bug. However, you are using a version that is too old and not supported anymore. GNOME developers are no longer working on that version, so unfortunately there will not be any bug fixes for the version that you use. By upgrading to a newer version of GNOME you could receive bug fixes and new functionality. You may need to upgrade your Linux distribution to obtain a newer version of GNOME. Please feel free to reopen this bug if the problem still occurs with a newer version of GNOME.