Re: use of locale in "ls" again (Re: Japanese expression of date)

[Paul Eggert]

> From: Tomohiro KUBOTA <address@hidden>
> Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2002 13:50:37 +0900
> 
> > We're not talking about _disabling_ localized dates, as localized
> > dates will continue to be supported.  The disagreement is over what
> > the default behavior should be outside the C locale.
> 
> I don't understand why we need "default behavior" outside the C locale.

"ls" does something when you invoke, say, "ls -l" in a Japanese locale
(e.g., LC_ALL=ja).  That is the "default behavior" that I am talking about.

The behavior can be changed to something other than the default
by employing other options, e.g., "ls -l --time-style=locale".
Typically you wouldn't enter "--time-style=locale" interactively;
you'd put it in an alias or script or something like that.


> All UNIX users know that the default behavior (without translation)
> is based on English language, especially, American English.

I'm a big fan of American English myself.  :-)

But there are some disadvantages of using POSIX-locale dates outside
the POSIX locale.  First, they consume more precious print columns.
Second, many users who specify non-POSIX locales prefer ISO-style
dates to POSIX-locale dates.  Obviously no single date format will
please all these users.  But my impression is that ISO-style dates are
preferable to POSIX-locale dates to people who prefer non-POSIX locales.