Features/LocalePreferences

Locale Preferences

Summary

This relates very much to localization; while system-config-language sets the default for all available locales on a system-level, and language preferences for users do such on the user-level, users might often need to change just one, two or several LC_* environment variables, but not all of them. This feature is about providing an interface to mere mortal users, enabling them to adjust their locale settings.

Owner(s), Contributor(s) and Interested People

• Name: JeroenVanMeeuwen (Owner)

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora 10
• Last updated: Tue May 06 2008 by JeroenVanMeeuwen
• Percentage of completion: 0%

Detailed Description

As a non-native English speaker, using US/English as the system language will end up in all LC_* environment variables being set to en_US.utf8 by default, while you might need LC_PAPER to be set to nl_NL.utf8 (so that the paper size is A4 instead of Letter). Similar use-cases can be found all around the globe, and as such this impacts lots of users; many of which will, presumably, not know how to change these settings.

This feature exists of two parts:

• Change what sets the LC_* defaults from s-c-language to s-c-date.
• Create a user interface to adjust the system default LC_* variables.

Extra thoughts

• System Defaults: Change what sets the LC_* defaults. It should not necessarily be impacted by the default language chosen for the system, rather then the timezone. This change applies to the anaconda timezone selection interface as well as system-config-language (optionally adjust LC_* accordingly, checked by default).

• Changes to the system timezone after initial system installation should only optionally impact LC_* defaults. This impacts system-config-date (add checkbox to adjust LC_* accordingly, unchecked by default).

• Users should be able to adjust their LC_* preferences via a nice GUI interface (or console interface), rather then setting the environment variables.

Benefit to Fedora

• Setting the LC_* from the chosen timezone is more intuitive, to more users.
• Being able to change these settings via a preferences dialog improves user experience.

NOTE: Users that live abroad may need to have a checkbox disabling changes to the LC_* when selecting a timezone.

Scope

Changes to system-config-date, system-config-language, anaconda, firstboot and the creation of a new GUI/TUI application.

Test Plan

N/A

Comments

Just allowing to select individual LC_* components is not sufficient. They do not always have the right granularity. For example changing LC_TIME will touch both numeric time representations and day names. Most users will want to keep the day names in whatever language their current locale use, but be able to select a different numeric format (such as ISO 8601). So for LC_TIME and probably others you do not want to just select an existing glibc built-in but help users compose their own one (like other OSs do). -- nim

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