BUG #4563: Translation of errors. - Mailing list pgsql-bugs

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference:      4563
Logged by:          Eugene Pimenov
Email address:      libc@me.com
PostgreSQL version: 8.3.5
Operating system:   MacOS X, FreeBSD, whatever
Description:        Translation of errors.
Details:

Hello,

I'm using ActiveRecord to connect to a postgresql database. One day it said
me: “неверный входной синтаксис для типа
bytea”. I said: "wtf?! what's going on”. I knew that the problem is in
ActiveRecord, so I copied the error, and googled it. I found nothing.

I downloaded the source code of postgresql, wrote a magick string: “grep
-R "$(echo 'неверный входной синтаксис для
типа bytea' | iconv -t koi8-r)" .” and found:

msgid "invalid input syntax for type bytea"
msgstr "<CE><C5><D7><C5><D2><CE><D9><CA> <D7><C8><CF><C4><CE><CF><CA>
<D3><C9><CE><D4><C1><CB><D3><C9><D3> <C4><CC><D1> <D4><C9><D0><C1> bytea"

Then I googled for “invalid input syntax for type byte rails” and found
http://dev.rubyonrails.org/ticket/1745 which seems to be the solution for my
problem.


Conclusion: translation of error messages is not helpful! It's harmful.

My proposal:
1) Remote all translations for errors and shoot everyone in the head who
wants to translate it.
2) Write a code to every translation (e.g. Error 424242 inccorrect ...), so
people can actually google out a solution for their problems.

Thank you.