A Comparative Study of Two FOSS Localisation Tools : Pootle and Virtaal
Valeria Siano · Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) · 2015
This thesis is focused on the analysis and comparison of two popular FOSS localisation tools: Pootle, a web-based system, and Virtaal, a stand-alone tool. As FOSS programs are not always localised by professionals, the main purpose of our study was to determine which tool would be better for a novice translator who wants to start collaborating on a project. By following the EAGLES final report, we evaluated three main characteristics (functionality, efficiency, usability) together with their sub-characteristics (suitability, accuracy, time behaviour, understandability, learnability, operability, attractiveness) by the means of a feature inspection, a scenario test and a task-specific questionnaire. Since we would also like to have the point of view of active users of the two tools, we subsequently performed an online survey. Results showed that Virtaal and Pootle scores were similar in both our study and online survey. Consequently, we can argue that both tools are appropriate for beginners.