Diaspora/Diaspora

Hi everybody!

I just learned about Diaspora today and joined the community as a Danish translator. I'm looking forward to great relations with all you other translators!

However I have encountered two words, during my translating the English into Danish, which I would like to address. The reason for this is that I feel the two words, 'need' and 'should', ought to be changed in the original English text, and thus in many many translations across the board.

Therefore I'd like us to discuss whether this should (pun intended =]) be done at all.

The thing is that Diaspora is a free software project, and thus strive for personal privacy and personal freedom. In this case I find the words 'need' and 'should' to be faulty expressions.

1.)

'Should' implies something a person has to do. In some cases the use of the word might be relevant, but I disagree with its usage in most of the Diaspora context. It is not a neutral word but rather a word that is based on subjective experience and desire. Thus it becomes a kind of imperative mood of 'The Other' (as Lacan would probably put it). I find this to be wrong.

Here is a list of all the lines that include 'should':

a.) “You should add some more contacts!”
b.) “You've asked to share with %{name}. They should see it next time they log in to Diaspora.”
c.) “Know their email address? You should invite them”
d.) “We want you to help us make Diaspora better, so you should help us out instead of leaving. If you do want to leave, we want you to know what happens next.”

Instead these lines could be replaced by:

a.) “You can add some more contacts!”
b.) [In this context I find the word to be used correctly and therefore is not in need of change.]
c.) “Know their email address? You could invite them”
d.) “We want you to help us make Diaspora better, so you could help us out instead of leaving. If you do want to leave, we want you to know what happens next.”

2.)

'Need' carries a sense of personal requirement to it. When used by a person speaking to/about you, it can often be perceived as an external judgment of what your needs are, and what you are required to do to improve upon these. How can a computer system (even a nice one like Diaspora) know what my needs are? I believe that it can not.

Here is a list with all the lines that include 'need':

a.) “Need Help?”
b.) “Looks like you need to add some contacts!”
c.) “Hey! You need to search for something.”
d.) “(we need your current password to confirm your changes)”
e.) “Email changed. Needs activation.”
f.) “Hey, you need to add the contact first!”
g.) “You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.”

Instead these lines could be replaced by:

a.) [No need (again, pun intended =]) for change.]
b.) “Looks like you could add some contacts!”
c.) “Hey! You could search for something.”
d.) [No need for change.]
e.) [No need for change.]
f.) “Hey, you have to add the contact first!”
g.) [No need for change.]

So there it is. Now before this need-and-should-debate goes beyond this forum, and might end up becoming official changes, what do you think of it all? Please let me and the others know.

Yours,
Mads

Thank you for your thoughts, however I think you picked the wrong place to bring this up. The primary target for your concern are our English speaking community members, very few of them listen here. The better place for such topics is our discussion platform Loomio, I happily send you an invite for it, if you want one.

Oh, okay :)

But sure thing, if you invited me to Loomio I will post it there, and see what people think about it. I hope they will not consider me finicky :)

Thanks!