#: authconfig.c:492 authconfig-gtk.py:355 #, c-format, python-format msgid "" "To properly connect to a LDAP server using TLS you need to copy the PEM form " "CA certificate which signed your server's certificate to the '%s' " "directory.\n" "Then press OK." This message is almost totally incomprehensible to me, and as a consequence not translateable. This message was unclear even to a sysadmin friend who knows about certificates. He has never ever heard of "PEM forms", but rather "PEM format".
PEM form is of course synonym for PEM format. I've just done Google for "PEM form" and it returned about 183 hits from which many have exactly this meaning. Form as you surely know is not only something to be filled in but also a synonym for shape or - format. I agree that the whole sentence is a little bit complicated and surely it could be better formulated as I am not a native english speaker. Feel free to suggest a better formulation but try to not make it much longer. It should mean: If you want to use the TLS protocol for securing the LDAP connection to the LDAP server you need to copy the certificate of the CA (certificate authority) which signed your server's certificate to the '%s' directory. The CA certificate must be in the PEM form / format.
Since I was "invited" :-) I'll try to give a suggestion. I do not explain any of the acronyms; that would make it longer. Hopefully, they are in a context where the user can be expected to understand at least most of them? I split it up in several sentences, which in my opinion makes it easier to read. I also try to put each acronym as an obvious description of the following noun. That ought to simplify for anyone who doesn't know all of them. It is not quite obvious in a description like "the ABC form DEF certificate". (And while I understand "form", "format" is certainly more common, and more clear if you do not know what PEM is.) But I'm not native English speaker either. So take this for what it is, another suggestion. To connect with the TLS protocal to an LDAP server, you need a CA certificate. It should have signed you server's certificate, and it should be in PEM format. Copy it to the directory `%s'. Press OK when ready.
OK, I will reword the message similarly to your proposal.