Hello! My name is "Kurosh Korata Madia" (kȯȯ'rōsh kōrȧtȧ madia). I'm from Iran. I'm studying Biomechanics; replacing in-vivo methods with in-silico ones. I'm also in love with computers and notably Free Software!
Google Translate - violation of WP CoC
editWP has always been free. Both in terms of content and software it uses or depends on, And now with the introduction of Google translate (GT) is violating 4 of the 4 essential freedoms [1]:
- Freedom 0 We can't run the software (e.g. China banned Google)
- Freedom 1 We can't study the software (e.g. Google banned documentaion for Iranian users)
- Freedom 2 We can't distribute the software (Google restricting its API whenever it likes. e.g. ban of Chrome API for ad-blockers or Youtube API for Invidious)
- Freedom 3 We can't modify the software (e.g. GT insists in inclusion of foreign words into pure languages)
With regard to content, I've simply left the WP in my mother language (Persian) for good. There is obvious distinction between, lets say a medic translating a document and random people doing it with GT; But the error is not apparent to ordinary people.
GT is responsible for creation of many garbage articles. Had they not been created, the lack would be felt and somebody with proper knowledge would eventually create them.
However, the situation with MinT, the Wikipedia's own libre/free translation engine is different. A master piece of software which nobody is going to use because it is shadowed by GT.