NAME
update-locale-config - Update differnt programs’ language settings
SYNOPSIS
update-locale-config [--preinst|-p] [--list|-l] <language>
DESCRIPTION
update-locale-config is a script that automatically updates the
language settings of different programs based on the language code
passed as parameter. This script is run by base-config throughout the
Debian installation process so that the user language selection is made
visible to packages and thus preventing debconf interfaces from asking
questions related to language settings and adjusting packages’ system-
wide configuration files to the user selection.
update-locale-config can run in two modes, pre-inst or post-inst (the
default). Pre-inst mode will run all scripts under
/usr/lib/localization-config with a preinst suffix, most of these
scripts will do debconf preseeding and will run before packages are
actually installed. The postinst mode (default) will run all scripts
under the same directory with a postinst suffix, most of these will
modify configuration files that are available once the package has been
installed on the system.
System administrators should not need to run update-locale-config by
hand, although this option is available. Notice, however, that running
update-locale-config in pre-inst mode will not affect the system unless
the packages whose debconf configuration has changed are reconfigured
(with dpkg-reconfigure PACKAGE).
Users should not run update-locale-config as all the changes this
script makes are systemwide. If a user wants to change his locale
configuration and adjust the language configuration of his own
configuration files set-language-env (available in the language-env
package) should be used instead.
OPTIONS
-d | --debug
Debugging mode
-l | --list
List supported locales.
-p | --preinst
Run the pre-install scripts instead of the (default) postinst
scripts.
language
specify your favorite native language. Here are some of the
supported languages:
ca_ES@euro Catalan (Spain)
da_DK Danish
de_BE@euro German (Belgium)
de_DE@euro German (Germany)
el_GR.UTF-8 Greek (Greece, UTF-8 mode)
es_ES@euro Spanish (Spain)
es_MX Spanish (Mexico)
fr_BE@euro French (Belgium)
fr_FR@euro French (France)
lv_LV Latvian
nb_NO or no_NO (depricated) Norwegian Bokmaal
nds_DE Low Saxon
nl_BE@euro Dutch (Belgium)
nl_NL@euro Dutch (The Netherlands)
nn_NO Norwegian Nynorsk
se_NO Northern Sami
PACKAGE SCRIPTS
Support for new packages is based on scripts present in
/usr/lib/localization-config. These scripts must analyse the official
locale language code (language[_territory][.codeset][@modifier]) and
modify the package as appropriate. Since language modifications might
vary between different package versions, the scripts in that directory
should just check the package version and call scripts in per-
distribution subdirectories (sarge, woody, etc.).
These scripts take as input the locale language code and should do
whatever modifications are need in order to configure the package.
Possible modifications include:
debconf-preseeding
If the package asks to the user through debconf settings that
might depend on the language and charset, and if an accurate
guess can be made based on the users locale language code then
the script should preseed the debconf values so that the user
will not have to answer the questions himself upon package
installation. Debconf preseeding is usually done in the preinst
phase.
configuration file modification If the package has configuration
files that can be modified to adjust for the user’s selection of
locale language code, the script should make any reasonable
changes in order to help the user configure the package.
Conffiles (see Debian policy) should be treated with extreme
care (to avoid prompts of configuration file changes by dpkg
when upgrading).
All changes done by the scripts should be idempotent.
LANGUAGE SUPPORT
Language support is embedded in the scripts available at
/usr/lib/localization-config. These scripts hold the knowledge on how
to transform a given language code into a package’s modification.
Adding support for a new language (or variant) should be done by
modifying these scripts. The code presently available that provides
support for some languages could be used as a basis for new language
support. In many scripts, adding support for a new language is just a
matter of defining it and the values that need to be changed for it in
a database of languages and changes (actually implemented in most cases
as hash array in Perl)
FILES
/usr/lib/localization-config
Location of the scripts that adjust programs to use the user
configured locale.
SEE ALSO
base-config(8), debconf(1), language-env(1), locale(1)
Recommended reading also includes Debian GNU/Linux - Install manual
(available at http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual)
which descirbes how language and country selection works in the debian
installer and Introduction to i18n (available at
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/) which describes i18n
(and locale) to developers.
BUGS
Bugs regarding this software should be sent against the localization-
config package, preferably using the report-bug script.
AUTHOR
This software and a first version of the manpage was written by Dagfinn
Ilmari Mannsaaker <ilmari@ping.uio.no> for the Skolelinux distribution.
This manpage was later modified for the Debian GNU/Linux by Javier
Fernandez-Sanguino. Minor changes by Konstantinos Margaritis