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Dockerlinux

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We translated our terminal game into Portuguese. Except the terminal.

#linux #docker #vue #braziliandevs

DockerLinux is a free game for learning Linux and Docker: a simulated terminal in the browser, 10 levels of missions, on-call "boss levels" where a pretend production server is broken and you have to fix it.

A lot of players are Brazilian, so this week it got its first second language: Brazilian Portuguese. The interesting part wasn't what we translated. It was what we didn't.

DockerLinux in Portuguese

The rule: translate everything around the terminal, never the terminal

Missions, hints, the lesson after each task, quizzes, buttons, dialogs, the achievements window: all in Portuguese.

The commands and everything they print: still English, word for word.

root@docker-lab:~/app# docker run -d --name web ngnix
Unable to find image 'ngnix:latest' locally
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

That error is the same on a real machine, in São Paulo or in London. If the game translated it, a learner would meet an unfamiliar message the first time something breaks for real, which is exactly when they need it to be familiar. So the terminal stays a real terminal, and the game explains it in your language around it. The welcome text even says so, in Portuguese: commands and terminal output stay in English, like on a real server.

How it's wired

A tiny i18n layer, no library:

  • Keys with an English fallback. Every text has a key; a missing Portuguese text falls back to English, so nothing is ever blank.
  • Lazy-loaded languages. English ships with the app; other languages load only when someone picks them (a dynamic import()), so English players never download Portuguese text.
  • Detection, then choice. A saved choice wins; otherwise the browser's languages (pt, pt-PT → pt-BR); otherwise English. ?lang=pt-BR works in links.
  • Plurals done properly. Values like { one, other } use the browser's plural rules instead of count === 1 ? … : ….
  • A test that lists missing keys. Adding a language is: copy the English folder, translate, run the tests. A language only appears in the menu once it's marked ready.
  • Switching language re-translates what's already on screen. The lessons already printed in the terminal are re-rendered in the new language, because they're stored as keys, not as text.

What was harder than expected?

  • Tone. The game has a character, Prof. Kernel-Panic, with jokes. Jokes don't translate; they get rewritten.
  • Missions that mention output. "Find the line that says Up 2 seconds" must keep the English output inside a Portuguese sentence.
  • Length. Portuguese is longer. Buttons and the top bar had to cope with ~30% more text.

Your turn

Português is the first. Which language should come next? And if you've localised a developer tool: did you translate the CLI output, or leave it alone?

👉 Try it in Portuguese (or English): free, in your browser, no install.

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