Datasheet

“main” (Installation and Administration) — 2004/6/25 — 13:29 — page 261 — #287
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10
Special Features of SUSE LINUX
10.7 Local Adjustments — I18N and
L10N
SUSE LINUX is, to a very large extent, internationalized and can be modi-
fied for local needs in a flexible manner. In other words, internationaliza-
tion (I18N) allows specific localizations (L10N). The abbreviations I18N
and L10N are derived from the first and last letters of the words and, in
between, the number of letters omitted.
Settings are made with LC_ variables defined in the file /etc/
sysconfig/language. This refers not only to native language support, but
also to the categories Messages (Language), Character Set, Sort Order, Time
and Date, Numbers, and Money. Each of these categories can be defined di-
rectly with its own variable or indirectly with a master variable in the file
language (see the manual page man locale).
1. RC_LC_MESSAGES, RC_LC_CTYPE, RC_LC_COLLATE, RC_LC_TIME,
RC_LC_NUMERIC, RC_LC_MONETARY: These variables are passed
to the shell without the RC_ prefix and govern the above categories.
The files concerned are listed below. The current setting can be shown
with the command locale.
2. RC_LC_ALL: This variable (if set) overwrites the values of the vari-
ables mentioned above.
3. RC_LANG: If none of the above variables are set, this is the fallback.
By default, SUSE LINUX only sets RC_LANG. This makes it easier for
users to enter their own values.
4. ROOT_USES_LANG: A yes or no variable. If it is set to no, root al-
ways works in the POSIX environment.
The other variables can be set via the YaST sysconfig editor. The value of
such a variable contains the language code, country code, encoding, and
modifier. The individual components are connected by special characters:
LANG=<language>[[_<COUNTRY>].<Encoding>[@<Modifier>]]
261SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server