So i have been Considering To make this Post for a while now, but i have waited for my Hebrew Translations for the 'Welcome' Program to Update (aka Every Major release) For the Most part The MATE Team has Done a Really great job in terms of the UI like Putting the Menu button on the Right side and putting the Close and minimize buttons on the Left like in Hebrew/RTL versions of Windows. (it is also more comfortable this way for RTL users) Altho Translation is Somewhat Poor in the installation and other MATE related Stuff. i have Taken a Best effort to make the Translation to be as point as possible. but i have Discovered that the 'Welcome screen' Isn't RTL Compatible and here is Few Evidence to support such claim:
So let me Simplify all these arrows for you, The Title Above the Title (aka Ubuntu Mate 19.04) Should be at the Right side. Then all the Social network buttons (Youtube, Forums and so forth) Should Also be at the Right side. While the Close button should be Left side and Behind it should be the Check-box "Open welcome every time i log-in" Not to mention that the Check Box Needs to be Behind the Sentence. (According to how the RTL Standart is Like in this mentioned image: RTL Example)
While this is Still somewhat "Basic" UI changes. another Issue is Mixing Symbols And English Words Inside a Sentence:
as you can see, in Transifex the Period in the Hebrew Sentence is all the way to the Left as it should Show up as, However in the Welcome Program it shows up like so:
In the Program for some Reason, The Dot (and in many other examples other symbols) Show up in the Begining of the Sentence rather than the End of it.
While you May Not be a Hebrew Reader yourself. you might Notice that in our Transifex image, "Ubuntu MATE" was Not our first word from Right to Left. as a Hebrew Reader i could tell you that the whole Sentence is garbled up Because it puts the English words in the Inappropriate Place.
For the Most part. i Could say that the two issues i have found for now is the UI Format, and improper Sentences when combined with symbols like period,asterisk or question mark. and English words (And yes, Ubuntu MATE is referred by English words in a Hebrew sentence as that is the name of the Operating system.)
i Really appreciate the Support i have been given here by Far and i Can Count that with the Help of the Community this Issue Could probably Be resolved to help further RTL support in general.
Sorry about this. I'm surprised we haven't heard about the improper RTL issue sooner!
Welcome is technically a "web browser". In general, translations for this program have room for improvement. At the time, we were avoiding HTML tags being exposed, so sentences were split up around the tags. That led to sentences being split up like this:
[You can join the] <b> [IRC chat] </b> [using Hexchat.]
That's actually a problem in some languages, as they use different words/meanings, or need to restructure the sentence entirely. This may equally pose a problem for RTL languages too.
A quick "fix" for now is to run this command to patch RTL for he_IL (Hebrew). Welcome isn't aware (nor inherit?) RTL settings.
sed -i 's#<html#<html dir="rtl"#g' /usr/share/ubuntu-mate-welcome/i18n/he_IL/*.html
The /usr/share/*** path would differ where the snap version is installed.
The "fix" adds an attribute to the <html> tag so the pages enforce RTL:
I've raised an issue on the repository to look into this at some point. The Welcome program will be overhauled this year, so we can properly fix issues with translations.
As to be expected, it's not a complete "fix"... fixed elements means more tweaks are necessary to support RTL - so I think this will be something best fixed in Welcome 2.0.
Thanks a Lot! To your question About the Image, It Looks Great but as i mentioned earlier the Social Media Buttons need to be at the right and the close button and box mark should be at the Left. Other than that it looks Great! (also Its funny seeing the New translations on 16.04)
EDIT: i noticed that the "Ubuntu MATE" name is flipped instead it shows as "MATE UBUNTU" in your picture.
About the Split tags. Yes that has made it a challenge to translate. Not just in terms of Grammar rules and so forth. but its also about Context. Often i find myself questioning a certain word and it's position and it's context. but over time i fixed some the mistakes made.
I really Appreciate your answer and Hope that the issue will be Resolved soon, Until then i'll Keep Making Translations for the 'Welcome' Program. And once that is done. i'll take a much active part in Translating the MATE desktop aswell! (also is the Installation setup part of regular Ubuntu Or MATE? Since the Translation there is Horrible they turned "copying files..." in to "files being copied..." how unfortunate!)
So I guess RTL is like a mirror, instead of starting from the left, everything starts from the right, no exceptions. I'll bear this in mind when I get round to Welcome 2.0 (it will be months before this is ready). How the styling is put together (like the Ubuntu MATE logo) definitely influences this.
also is the Installation setup part of regular Ubuntu Or MATE?
The installation screens are part of Ubiquity, which is Ubuntu.
Until then i'll Keep Making Translations for the 'Welcome' Program.
The next major version of Welcome will be a disruption to translators, since many strings may need re-translating (as the original text will eventually be merged together), but till then, contributions will be seen by users of today's version when it is synced.... just backwards.
So if you advice to Wait until welcome 2.0 i am Prepared to wait. Hopefully Translating Becomes Easier in the future. Will Welcome 2.0 Come to RPI Versions of Ubuntu MATE?
Yes, new versions of Welcome and Software Boutique ("2.0") will replace the existing versions when they're ready. Hopefully by the end of 19.10's release.
Hey. Thought i'd Check on the Status of this Thread. Has The new versions of Welcome and Software Boutique shipped yet? and Has RTL been implemented to them?
Sorry, the successor 2.0 versions are still not ready!
Software Boutique 2.0 development has been slow.
Welcome 2.0 has been left on a backburner
Partly because it's going to share code with our new website - that's been my focus lately - the website is coming for 20.04!
With 20.04 being an LTS (3 years), we'll continue to ship the Welcome we know and love today. With that in mind, I'll look into addressing the RTL issues right away.
I'm hoping the split translations of the current code won't pose a problem.
Thanks for the Reply! The Split Translation Is a bit Problematic. As i would have to readjust the translation according to the Context. And the only way to check my Translation's Correctness is Waiting for the Next Release for when the Translations Apply. I'll admit i have been away aswell for a while. but i decided to Come back to The Ubuntu MATE Project
I'll Note that i wouldn't have a problem To start all over With the Translations in the new Version If Of course it does not include the Split strings. As i can always improve my Translations.
If you know How i could preview my translations before they appear per Aprill/October Release so i can see that the formatting is correct Please let me know!
I've added support for RTL and gone through the application so the styling of the interface also reads right-to-left. Please let me know if there's any glaring issues.
To preview your translations under this new code, grab a local copy:
sudo apt install transifex-clent git
git clone 'https://github.com/ubuntu-mate/ubuntu-mate-welcome-legacy.git'
cd ubuntu-mate-welcome-legacy
To download translations straight from Transifex, you'll need to generate an API key here:
tx pull -l he_IL # 'he_IL' being the locale
./create-translations.sh
./ubuntu-mate-welcome -d --locale=he_IL
Unfortunately the main issue is the hardcoded punctuation like full stops (.) and question marks (?) at the end which we can't resolve cleanly until version 2.0. That's our error many years ago as multilingual applications were very new to us.
And thank you for bringing this to attention Just the other week I've been polishing the old code since this version of Welcome will be hanging around for another 3 years (LTS).
Where would the Ubuntu MATE Installer Strings Be Located? So i could Add some Further Translation.
Also While most of the installer Is RTL Pressing the Right Arrow Button makes the Next slide Come from the Left Like it would Normally in English. Essentially if you press the Left Arrow button. the Next slide would come from the right side. as opposed to the Left side.
The OS Crashes And then Goes back to the Login screen. I believe there might be an Issue with your RTL Code. although i noticed that the Title bar and the Window Controls were indeed in the right place right before loading the "Welcome" Text. the OS crashes. (Note: I tested this on 20.04 Daily build)
Later this week, we should be launching our new website which has a section listing all the programs for translating. I actually missed off Slick Greeter, so thanks for the nudge
It's definitely not the RTL code since the version in the daily ISO is still the "stable" version of Welcome. The new code is still in "beta" channel of the snap which can be activated with this Terminal command:
snap refresh ubuntu-mate-welcome --channel beta
It is likely that Welcome did crash the system. I haven't been following the bug closely, but it might be due to 3D acceleration in VirtualBox.
It seems i do not have Rights to make Changes but only leave suggestions. I'm assuming it would mean asking for Permission From the Ubuntu Hebrew Team If i wish to make those Changes myself.
Regarding the Login Screen. i Think the issue might Reside in MATE Desktop, as i have seen the very same Typo countless times in MATE's Transifex. Which i Went ahead and fixed. (the Typo was Passwrd instead of Password but in Hebrew)
Other Than that. i Safely assume that the crash is caused by Welcome in 20.04 in all Versions and isn't Caused by the RTL Code then.
This Looks Really Nice! (Aside from the Logo needing to be LTR since its Only English and Numbers)
This is on the Live Test though.
Turning on 3D on Virtualbox. worked fine (installed)in English with no Updates and 3rd party Downloads.
on Hebrew Crashes the OS when Installed Although with Updates and 3rd party.
i'll Be seeing if it crashes with Hebrew with no Updates or 3rd party Downloads.
i'd Like to thank you for your Vast Patience and your Great assistance.
Glad to hear! I notice the "Close" button is still in English, not sure if it's because it hasn't been translated or if it's the same bug I thought I fixed. Will need to investigate.
I'll fix the "MATE ubuntu", it's currently two separate graphics which is why it ended up RTL. Should the "20.04" be on the left or right?
Once fixed, it will automatically be deployed to the beta snap in the background within 24 hours.
I'm surprised we haven't heard about the improper RTL issue sooner!
Welcome isn't aware (nor inherit?) RTL settings.
The 
Just the other week I've been polishing the old code since this version of Welcome will be hanging around for another 3 years (LTS).
Will need to investigate.