1195090 - Mozilla.com should geolocate users to present them a download of Firefox in their language

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1195080

(www.mozilla.org :: L10N, defect)

Description

[Jobava]

Currently, mozilla.com will only query a user's locale in order to determine the localized version that needs to be presented to her.

This mechanism fails for places like Romania, which have a high prevalence of pirated Windows versions, most of which are running English system locales.

Instead, mozilla.com should geolocate users and present them with a version in a locale based on that. There should also be a prominent piece of interface where they can change the language.

A more subtle mechanism would be the following: query the user's locale, if it's English and they are located in a non-English country, then present them with a localized version of that country (and perhaps the region of the country if it's a multi-ethnic country).

Example1: A user with English system locale goes to mozilla.com. Mozilla.com detects that they are in Bucharest, Romania (based on GEO-IP and/or ancillary means). Mozilla.com presents them with a Romanian language version and a more prominent menu to change the language if they wish to do.

Example2: A user with Romanian (or Hungarian) system locale goes to mozilla.com from anywhere. Simply present them with a Romanian (or Hungarian, respectively) language version and the usual language selection interface. Geolocation is not necessary here.

Example 3: A user with English system locale goes to mozilla.com from Sf. Gheorghe, Romania, a town that's predominantly Hungarian, with a sizable Romanian population. Mozilla.com should present then with two prominent language choices: Romanian / Hungarian.


There are several ways to do geolocation, some more intrusive than others. Mozilla.com could just rely on geo-IP and request the user with access to location data for a more detailed location. If it's too contentious to do full geolocation, at least geo-IP should be attempted.

This is an issue of critical importance because:
1. Romanians aren't more particularly knowledgeable of English, they require localized websites and software.
2. Romanians tend to use English system locales, so query-ing the system locale is not a useful mechanism that mozilla.com can employ to present them with localized software.
3. Without localized versions of software, Romanians are more inclined to use Chrome, which does geolocate them and gives them locally relevant versions of websites.

Comment 1

[Francesco Lodolo [:flod]]

Just filed one this morning. Feel free to report the same notes in the other bug.