Locale

Experimental includes org.gnu.glibc-bin: the locale and localedef tools and compiled C.UTF-8 data. New user sessions default to LANG=C.UTF-8. This gives UTF-8 character handling with the C locale's conventions. A locale controls character classification, sorting, and number, money and date formatting; it does not select a console keyboard layout or font, which console keyboards and fonts cover.

To choose a 12- or 24-hour display for your own top-bar clock, use Desktop Settings' Time Format.

Regional locales are precompiled in optional org.gnu.glibc-langpack-* packages. For example, install org.gnu.glibc-langpack-en for British English or org.gnu.glibc-langpack-de for German. Installing a pack does not select it. org.gnu.glibc-locale-source contains source definitions and is not required to use these packs; no locale-gen step is needed.

Machine and principal preferences #

The machine default is under Machine\System\Locale. An administrator can change it after installing the corresponding pack, in System Settings or with reg.

In System Settings, in the Language & Keyboard section, Language lists every locale installed in full, by its language and place, and Formats chooses how dates, numbers, money, measures and paper sizes are written, if not Match Language. Each is written as it is chosen: LANG, and LC_TIME, LC_NUMERIC, LC_MONETARY, LC_MEASUREMENT and LC_PAPER for the formats. Anyone may look; changing it needs write access to Machine\System\Locale, which as shipped only Administrators have.

reg set -p Machine/System/Locale LANG sz:en_GB.UTF-8

A principal's own values, under Users\<SID>\Locale, override the machine's. The principal may set them, and so may Administrators.

On the desktop, a person sets their own in My Settings (type my in the launcher), in its Language & Formats section. The lists are the same as System Settings', and the first entry in each, System Default and Match Language, removes the person's own value. Each is written as it is chosen: LANG and the same five format categories under CurrentUser\Locale, which is the person's Users\<SID>\Locale.

Match Language removes the personal format overrides; machine category overrides can still apply. To use the same locale for your language and all five formats despite those machine overrides, select that locale explicitly in both lists. Confirm the result in a new session with the commands below.

From a shell, use reg. Use lps show NAME to find a local principal's SID, or token user within that principal's session, then substitute the SID after the principal has logged in at least once:

reg new Users/S-1-5-21-1-2-3-1000/Locale
reg set Users/S-1-5-21-1-2-3-1000/Locale LANG sz:en_GB.UTF-8
reg set -p Users/S-1-5-21-1-2-3-1000/Locale LC_NUMERIC sz:de_DE.UTF-8

Authd provisions a private Users\<SID> root on authenticated logon. The principal, SYSTEM and Administrators have full access, inherited by child keys. Creation and its descriptor are committed atomically. Existing roots and their descriptors are left alone; failure to provision is reported but does not deny login. A write needs access to the registry layer as well as to the key, and the base layer lets Authenticated Users set values, so the principal can write their own preferences there.

Values are REG_SZ locale names. Supported names are LANG, LC_CTYPE, LC_NUMERIC, LC_TIME, LC_COLLATE, LC_MONETARY, LC_MESSAGES, LC_PAPER, LC_NAME, LC_ADDRESS, LC_TELEPHONE, LC_MEASUREMENT and LC_IDENTIFICATION. Each principal value overrides the same machine value. A machine category override remains in force when a principal changes only LANG; set that category explicitly to override it too. Categories without an override use LANG.

LC_ALL, LANGUAGE and LOCPATH are not stored preferences. In particular, persisting LC_ALL would hide every category choice. It remains useful for a single command, for example LC_ALL=C sort names.

Malformed values, wrong types and locale data absent from the standard system locale directory are reported and ignored, retaining the preceding default for that value. Names cannot contain paths. Absent settings fall back to C.UTF-8; C and POSIX are also valid choices. Minimal custom images must include glibc-bin to make the UTF-8 fallback available.

When a change takes effect #

Console login, SSH session children and new GXWI compositor sessions read these preferences. Programs launched from them inherit the resulting environment. Existing sessions keep their environment, including a GXWI session rejoined after a browser disconnect. Sign out and start a new session to pick up a change. Applications may still choose their own locale.

Console login -p preserves other environment settings but refreshes locale preferences and removes inherited LC_ALL and LANGUAGE. GXWI also clears inherited locale overrides before applying preferences. For SSH, registry preferences are defaults; explicitly permitted client environment entries, user environment files or administrator SetEnv settings retain OpenSSH's normal ability to override them for that session.

Service environments are not changed. These preferences are resolved by user-session launchers, not applied as peinit global environment variables.

Inspect a new session with:

locale
locale charmap
locale -k decimal_point