18.1 Synopsis

FreeBSD is a very distributed project with users and contributors located all over the world. This chapter discusses the internationalization and localization features of FreeBSD that allow non-English speaking users to get real work done. There are many aspects of the i18n implementation in both the system and application levels, so where applicable we refer the reader to more specific sources of documentation.

After reading this chapter, you will know:

• How different languages and locales are encoded on modern operating systems.

• How to set the locale for your login shell.

• How to configure your console for non-English languages.

• How to use X Window System effectively with different languages.

• Where to find more information about writing i18n-compliant applications.

Before reading this chapter, you should:

• Know how to install additional third-party applications (Chapter 4).