Re: Does "LC_ALL=C" work on all shells?

[David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>]

On Thu 15 Feb 2024 at 21:17:44 (+0100), Franco Martelli wrote:
> On 15/02/24 at 03:28, Max Nikulin wrote:
> > > # env LC_ALL=C script -t 2>~/upgrade-bookwormstep.time -a
> > > ~/upgrade-bookwormstep.script
> > 
> > Perhaps LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 is safer. At least several years ago some
> > python scripts (unrelated to Debian upgrade however) failed trying
> > to log e.g. non-ascii file paths, etc.
> > 
> > I would reset LANGUAGE as well otherwise some programs may use
> > localized messages.
> > 
> > Finally, some users might have LC_ALL (despite it is not
> > recommended) or LANGUAGE set in a file like ~/.bashrc. That is why
> > the following approach may be more reliable. Run commands within
> > the "script" session
> > 
> >      LANG=C.UTF-8; LANGUAGE=; export LANG LANGUAGE
> > 
> > with a note concerning csh. To affect messages generated by shell
> > itself, "export" is separated from setting of the variables.
> 
> Doesn't LC_ALL=C setting override LANG or LANGUAGE settings? On my
> system I have:
> 
> ~$ env | grep LANG
> LANGUAGE=
> LANG=it_IT.UTF-8

BTW, you can also print locale information with:

  $ locale
  LANG=C.UTF-8
  LANGUAGE=
  LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8
  LC_NUMERIC="C.UTF-8"
  LC_TIME="C.UTF-8"
  LC_COLLATE="C.UTF-8"
  LC_MONETARY="C.UTF-8"
  LC_MESSAGES="C.UTF-8"
  LC_PAPER="C.UTF-8"
  LC_NAME="C.UTF-8"
  LC_ADDRESS="C.UTF-8"
  LC_TELEPHONE="C.UTF-8"
  LC_MEASUREMENT="C.UTF-8"
  LC_IDENTIFICATION="C.UTF-8"
  LC_ALL=
  $ 

> and LC_ALL=C override the LANG setting when used inline of the
> command. This approach is to cover all cases, my goal is to do
> apt/apt-get commands output in English when they are executed into a
> "script" session.

Yes, LC_ALL=C will override all the locale variables,
but LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 will not:

  $ LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 LANGUAGE=it LANG=it_IT.UTF-8 aptitude why firefox-esr
  i   firefox-esr-l10n-en-gb Dipende firefox-esr (< 115.7.0esr-1~deb11u1.1~)
  $ LC_ALL=C LANGUAGE=it LANG=it_IT.UTF-8 aptitude why firefox-esr
  i   firefox-esr-l10n-en-gb Depends firefox-esr (< 115.7.0esr-1~deb11u1.1~)
  $ 

Cheers,
David.