English Locale for Indonesia (en_ID)

A locale definition for English language users in Indonesia, combining international English standards with Indonesian regional conventions.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Quick Start
• Installation
• Usage
• Testing
• Design Decisions
• Contributing
• License

Overview

The en_ID locale provides English language support tailored for Indonesia. It combines:

• British English spelling conventions (inherited from en_GB)
• Indonesian currency format (IDR/Rp)
• International business standards (ISO 8601 dates, Anglo number formatting, 24-hour time)

Who needs this?

• International businesses operating in Indonesia
• Indonesian professionals working in English
• Software systems requiring English UI with Indonesian regional settings
• Educational institutions using English as medium of instruction

Features

Category	Setting	Example
Language	English (British spelling)	colour, centre
Currency	Indonesian Rupiah	Rp 1,234,567.89
Numbers	Decimal point, comma separator	1,234,567.89
Date	ISO 8601 format	2024-01-15
Time	24-hour format	14:30:45
First Day	Monday	-
Paper	A4 (297×210mm)	-
Measurement	Metric	-

Quick Start

Install en_ID as your system default locale with one command:

Ubuntu/Debian

wget -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/en_ID/main/install-ubuntu.sh | sudo bash

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux

wget -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/en_ID/main/install-fedora.sh | sudo bash

Arch Linux

wget -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/en_ID/main/install-arch.sh | sudo bash

Ensure Persistence (All Distributions)

If you've already installed en_ID and want to ensure it persists through system updates:

# Download and run the persistence script
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/en_ID/main/ensure-persistence.sh
sudo bash ensure-persistence.sh

Installation

Automated Installation

The installation scripts provide a fully automated setup that:

• Installs the en_ID locale files
• Generates the compiled locale
• Automatically sets en_ID as the system default locale
• Backs up existing locale settings before making changes
• Updates SSH configuration for locale support
• Configures environment files for application compatibility
• Runs verification tests to ensure proper installation
• Sets up persistence mechanisms to prevent removal during system updates
• Includes error handling for network and installation issues

The scripts automatically configure all locale categories (LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_NUMERIC, etc.) for comprehensive system-wide support. The repository URL can be customized by setting the EN_ID_REPO_URL environment variable.

Manual Installation

Ubuntu/Debian

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/en_ID.git
cd en_ID

# Install
sudo make install

# Verify
locale -a | grep en_ID

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/en_ID.git
cd en_ID

# Install locale file
sudo cp localedata/en_ID /usr/share/i18n/locales/

# Generate locale
sudo localedef -i en_ID -f UTF-8 en_ID.UTF-8

# Set as default (optional)
sudo localectl set-locale LANG=en_ID.UTF-8

Arch Linux

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/en_ID.git
cd en_ID

# Install locale file
sudo cp localedata/en_ID /usr/share/i18n/locales/

# Add to locale.gen
echo "en_ID.UTF-8 UTF-8" | sudo tee -a /etc/locale.gen

# Generate locale
sudo locale-gen

# Set as default (optional)
echo "LANG=en_ID.UTF-8" | sudo tee /etc/locale.conf

Note: Systems may display the locale as en_ID.utf8 or en_ID.UTF-8. Both refer to the same locale.

Usage

Set as System Default

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo update-locale LANG=en_ID.UTF-8 LC_ALL=en_ID.UTF-8

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo localectl set-locale LANG=en_ID.UTF-8

# Arch Linux
echo "LANG=en_ID.UTF-8" | sudo tee /etc/locale.conf

Use in Current Session

export LANG=en_ID.UTF-8
export LC_ALL=en_ID.UTF-8

Use for Single Application

LC_ALL=en_ID.UTF-8 your-application

Important: Use LC_ALL to ensure all locale categories use en_ID. Using only LANG may result in some categories falling back to system defaults.

Testing

Run Full Test Suite

# Run all tests
make test

# Test specific categories
./tests/test_en_ID.sh LC_TIME
./tests/test_en_ID.sh LC_MONETARY
./tests/test_en_ID.sh LC_NUMERIC

Manual Verification

# Check if installed
locale -a | grep en_ID

# Test date format (should show: 2024-01-15)
LC_ALL=en_ID.UTF-8 date +%x

# Test time format (should show: 14:30:45)
LC_ALL=en_ID.UTF-8 date +%X

# Test currency (number formatting)
LC_MONETARY=en_ID.UTF-8 printf "%'.2f\n" 1234567.89
# Output: 1,234,567.89

# Test full date with day name
LC_ALL=en_ID.UTF-8 date +"%x = %A, %d %B %Y"
# Output: 2024-01-15 = Monday, 15 January 2024

# Show all locale settings
LC_ALL=en_ID.UTF-8 locale

Design Decisions

LC_NAME Omission

The LC_NAME category is intentionally left minimal. Indonesian naming conventions don't map to Western name formatting:

• Single names are common (Sukarno, Suharto, Junarti)
• Name origins vary widely (Javanese, Balinese, Chinese, Arabic)
• Titles like Pak/Bu are Indonesian, not English
• English contexts typically use Mr./Ms. anyway

Rather than misrepresent Indonesian names, LC_NAME uses a minimal definition.

Indonesian Standards Adopted

The en_ID locale adopts these standards from Indonesia:

• Currency: Indonesian Rupiah (IDR/Rp) with standard positioning
• Country Codes: ID (alpha-2), IDN (alpha-3), 360 (numeric)
• Telephone: International format with +62 country code
• Paper Size: A4 (297×210mm)
• Measurement: Metric system
• Week Start: Monday

International Standards Used

Rather than traditional Indonesian formats, en_ID uses:

• Dates: ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD) instead of Indonesian DD/MM/YYYY
• Numbers: Anglo format (1,234.56) instead of Indonesian (1.234,56)
• Language: English (inherited from en_GB and en_SG)

This design prioritizes international compatibility for English-language business and technical contexts.

British vs American English

British English was chosen because:

• It's the standard in Indonesian education
• Used by neighboring Singapore and Malaysia
• Common in Commonwealth countries

Modern UTF-8 Format

The locale definition uses direct UTF-8 text format instead of legacy Unicode code points:

• Direct text: currency_symbol "Rp" instead of <U0052><U0070>
• Improved readability: Day names like "Monday" are immediately recognizable
• Easier maintenance: No need to look up Unicode tables
• Consistent with modern locales: Follows the same format as en_GB, en_US, etc.

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/en_ID.git
cd en_ID

# Check syntax and compile
make

# Run tests
make test

# Install system-wide (requires sudo)
sudo make install

# Install with persistence (prevents removal on system updates)
sudo make install-persistent

# Uninstall the locale
sudo make uninstall

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

# Show available make targets
make help

# Display locale information
make info

Troubleshooting

Locale disappears after system updates

If the en_ID locale disappears after system updates (showing errors like cannot change locale (en_ID.UTF-8): No such file or directory), this is likely because the locale was removed when glibc or locale packages were updated.

Quick Fix

Run the persistence script to set up automatic regeneration:

sudo ./ensure-persistence.sh

This script will:

• Add en_ID to /etc/locale.gen (Debian/Ubuntu/Arch)
• Create package manager hooks to automatically regenerate the locale after updates
• Regenerate the locale immediately

Manual Fix

If you prefer to fix it manually:

# Regenerate the locale
sudo localedef -i en_ID -f UTF-8 en_ID.UTF-8

# Ensure persistence for Debian/Ubuntu
echo "en_ID.UTF-8 UTF-8" | sudo tee -a /etc/locale.gen
sudo locale-gen

# Create APT hook for automatic regeneration (Debian/Ubuntu)
echo 'DPkg::Post-Invoke { "if [ -f /etc/locale.gen ] && grep -q \"^en_ID.UTF-8\" /etc/locale.gen; then locale-gen en_ID.UTF-8 2>/dev/null || true; fi"; };' | sudo tee /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99en-id-locale-gen

Prevention

The updated installation scripts now include persistence mechanisms by default. If you installed en_ID before this update, run:

# Using make
sudo make install-persistent

# Or using the persistence script
sudo ./ensure-persistence.sh

Locale not taking effect

If you've installed the locale but it's not taking effect:

1. Log out and log back in - Session variables need to be reloaded
2. For SSH sessions - Disconnect and reconnect
3. Check your shell configuration - Ensure no conflicting LANG/LC_* variables in ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile
4. Verify with: locale command should show en_ID.UTF-8

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Development Workflow

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes to localedata/en_ID
4. Run make test to verify your changes
5. Submit a pull request

Reporting Issues

Please report bugs or suggestions via GitHub Issues.

License

This locale definition is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for details.

Author

Created and maintained by Yayasan Teknologi Terbuka Indonesia (Indonesian Open Technology Foundation).

Contact: admin@yatti.id

See Also

• GNU C Library Locales
• ISO 639 Language Codes
• ISO 3166 Country Codes
• Unicode CLDR