From: dblack@...
Date: 2003-05-12T06:03:29+09:00
Subject: Re: Is Rubygarden's wiki restricted to English?

Hi --

On Mon, 12 May 2003, Mauricio [iso-8859-1] Fern�ndez wrote:

> On Mon, May 12, 2003 at 03:06:06AM +0900, Hal E. Fulton wrote:
> >
> > Let me request a clarification: Are you proposing to
> > translate existing English material into (an)other
> > language(s)? Or are you proposing to add *new*
> > non-English material?
>
> Both (?)
> Anyway, I'd like to know what to do in both cases as they will eventually
> arise...

My view is: write and post whatever you want.  In the case of
non-English-language posts, the question (as it so often is) is "Who
would be the aggrieved party?"  The answer (as it also often is :-) is
no one.  It's not a zero-sum game; people can keep adding stuff in
English (or translate your materials back :-)

Another point: having materials in a language other than English does
not limit access to information.  From the point of view of people who
can't read it, the situation has not changed.  From the point of view
of people who can read it, there's more information.  So, as a net
matter, there's more information.  And if someone was motivated to
write something on the same topic in English previously, that
motivation still exists.


David

-- 
David Alan Black
home: dblack@superlink.net
work: blackdav@shu.edu
Web:  http://pirate.shu.edu/~blackdav