New localization effort for current Kindle models?

[ixtab]

All of the current Kindle models (Kindle 4, Kindle Touch, and Kindle Paperwhite) "natively" support localization/internationalization for multiple languages. Technically, there is no reason why these devices couldn't support other languages. All that it takes is a few files at the correct place.

You might wonder why I even raised this topic at all, given that there already had been an effort to localize the Kindle Touch 5.0.x firmware, which essentially seems to have died. (Yes, I'm also aware of the existing K4 localization efforts, but that's a different story)

The answer is two-fold: first, that old localization hasn't died at all. In almost every russian forum I visit, firmware 5.0.x is the de-facto standard for KT, and people are very reluctant to upgrade to 5.1.x or 5.3.x, because they would lose the localization. And consequently, they also (necessarily, but probably unvoluntarily) miss out on most of the development taking place here.

Second, since the time of our localization effort, the official Amazon firmwares have evolved... a lot! Now, every K4, K5, or KPW can be set to one of some 5 languages, and it simply works. The underlying mechanisms for a truely multilingual system (seem to) have been sorted out by Amazon, and the translations exist and are working.

That is an entirely different situation than what we started from about a year ago - where all we could do is speculate about which parts of the resources were (or weren't) language-specific and meant for translation.

So right now, for all framework versions, we already have multiple existing "official" translations at hand, which makes it much easier to identify the parts that must be localized -- even if we still might have to "reverse-engineer" some parts.

All in all, what I'm saying is this: right now, it should be relatively easy to determine the parts that must be translated in order to provide a fully localized K4/K5/KPW, but there would still be quite some effort required to actually provide custom localizations.

We could most probably re-use many of the ideas that eureka and I had back then, but it still wouldn't be a piece of cake.

Anybody in for such a project?

[Spine]

With pleasure join for the localization on Russian ...

[thomass]

That would be great.

I can contribute for Turkish.

[dsmid]

I've been thinking about localizing KPW for a long time.
Lots of things have changed since the time of fw 5.0.x. Many resources have been moved into loop partitions.
My biggest concern is the safety of installation. Will we be able to restore the previous state if something goes wrong ?
Remember that the localization pack is the only Kindle modification that is mostly installed by users with little or zero computer literacy.
The root partition changes should be as little as possible - one hook script should be enough.
Everything else should be implemented with bind mounts and dependent on presence of certain flag in the user store. Any unnecessary complexity should be avoided.
Installing rescue pack & back door lock together with localization pack might appear to be necessary.

There is only one thing that prevents me from diving into this project: I don't own KPW nor KT.

[eureka]

Originally Posted by dsmid

There is only one thing that prevents me from diving into this project: I don't own KPW nor KT.

What a twist!

Spoiler:

http://robotchicken.wikia.com/wiki/The_Twist

[knc1]

Originally Posted by dsmid

There is only thing that prevents me from diving into this project: I don't own KPW nor KT.

There is only one thing that prevents me from joining this project: I can neither read nor write.

[danan72]

Great idea! I'm happy to help you translate it into Polish.

[aditya3098]

Hindi. And this time I hope that transifex forgot paswd page works. You can kick me out of the project if I dont do anything for 30 days or send you a password lost distress pm.