11 Changing Language and Country
Settings with YaST
Working in dierent countries or having to work in a multilingual environment requires
your computer to be set up to support this. openSUSE® can handle dierent locales
in parallel. A locale is a set of parameters that denes the language and country
settings reected in the user interface.
The main system language was selected during installation and keyboard and time
zone settings were adjusted. However, you can install additional languages on your
system and determine which of the installed languages should be the default.
For those tasks, use the YaST language module as described in Section 11.1,
“Changing the System Language” (page 145). Install secondary languages to get op-
tional localizations if you need to start applications or desktops in languages other
than the primary one.
Apart from that, the YaST timezone module allows you to adjust your country and
timezone settings accordingly. It also lets you synchronize your system clock against
a time server. For details, refer to Section 11.2, “Changing the Country and Time
Settings” (page 149).
11.1 Changing the System Language
Depending on how you use your desktop and whether you want to switch the entire
system to another language or just the desktop environment itself, there are several
ways to achieve this:
Changing the System Language Globally
Proceed as described in Section 11.1.1, “Modifying System Languages with
YaST” (page 146) and Section 11.1.2, “Switching the Default System Lan-
guage” (page 148) to install additional localized packages with YaST and to set
the default language. Changes are eective after relogin. To ensure that the entire
system reects the change, reboot the system or close and restart all running
services, applications, and programs.
Changing the Language for the Desktop Only
Provided you have previously installed the desired language packages for your
desktop environment with YaST as described below, you can switch the language
of your desktop using the desktop's control center. After the X server has been
restarted, your entire desktop reects your new choice of language. Applications
Changing Language and Country Settings with YaST 145
