On 2/21/07, Jon M. Hanson <jon@the-hansons-az.net> wrote:
>
> Michael Havens wrote:
> > As I try to install programs lately it seems that wile it is in process
> > apt-get tells me something about 'setting locale failed'. So I
> > investigated 'dselect locale', 'dselect locales', and 'apt-get locales'.
> The
> > first two commands wanted to update  and install like a thousand files
> per
> > command while the last command wanted to update two or three. Hey, look
> at
> > that! It is setting up 'locales' which seems to be a problem now. What
> are
> > locales. It would seem that they are files concerning local things for
> > different countries in the world. Is that an accurate guess?
>
>     You got it correct. The locales dictate what symbols are used to
> denote money, how you separate thousands places in numbers, how you
> display your date and time, and it might even control characters sets
> but I'm not too sure about the last one.
> --
> Jon M. Hanson (N7ZVJ)   [...]
> ---------------------------------------------------
> PLUG-discuss mailing list - [...]
>

> how you separate thousands places in numbers,

The locales where they use a dot ["."] to do so,
usually use  a comma [","] where we (in the US)
use a dot - to separate the "(decimal) fraction" part
[R] from the "whole number" part [L] of a mixed number.
(3,5 for three-and-a-half).
Also, I don't know if they do this (yet), but some
spell-checkers might try to operate differently for
someone whose "locale" indicates to use (say)
the UK spelling vs. US spelling.
("initialise" vs. "initialize", e.g.).
-- 
Mike Schwartz
Glendale  AZ
schwartz@acm.org
Mike.L.Schwartz@gmail.com