Re: License and Copyright info for debconf translation of aide package

Helo Marc,
On Tue, Jan 19, 2021 at 04:32:04PM +0100, Marc Haber wrote:
> [I am not subscribed to debian-i18n, please Cc me on replies]
> 
> Hi,
> 
> while reviewing the aide package for writing a machine-readable
> debian/copyright file, I have stumbled up on the translations.
> 
> https://salsa.debian.org/debian/aide/-/tree/master/debian/po
> 
> Oh, what a mess.

Welcome in the world if i18n. Really, this is, unfortunately, quite
common. I've faced similar endavors like you did.

> Boilerplate headers that have not been filled out, licenseless files, po
> files putting the aide translation under the same license as the postfix
> package (an obvious cut&paste error). Most of the files have not been
> touched for a decade, and I doubt that the original translators are
> still around. The good side is that the Debconf templates have also been
> stable since 2006.
> 
> What am I supposed to do to get the translations
> - reviewed
> - properly filled out
> - properly licensed to a license that actually fits the package?

You can most certainly do this, but is it really worth the effort? 

> Is there a mechanism that saves me from talking to each and every
> language mailing list, some of them looking as if the inhabitants have a
> very well thought out subject tagging method.

Well, I would first start using podebconf-report-po(1). You can tweak
the message to your liking, explaining what you want to achieve. This
is necessary, as 100% files are usually not necessarily reviewed again
or even considered (given the huge volume of work for l10n teams still
ahead).

But first check the headers if the translation lists are filled out
properly (i.e. exist). 

> Can I safely assume that a translation without an explicit license was
> meant to be licensed with the package, which would be GPL-2+ in this
> case?

I do not know, I'm not a lawyer. You might check on debian-legal for
this.

Greetings

            Helge


-- 
      Dr. Helge Kreutzmann                     [email protected]
           Dipl.-Phys.                   http://www.helgefjell.de/debian.php
        64bit GNU powered                     gpg signed mail preferred
           Help keep free software "libre": http://www.ffii.de/

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