gettext dropping locale.alias support and file except under glibc

[brian.inglis@systematicsw.ab.ca]

On 2025-08-01 09:41, Corinna Vinschen wrote:
> On Aug  1 08:57, brian.inglis@systematicsw.ab.ca wrote:
>> On 2025-07-31 13:59, Corinna Vinschen wrote:
>>> On Jul 31 12:55, Brian Inglis wrote:
>>>> Heads up that next release of gettext will drop support for locale.alias
>>>> [...]
>>> The NLS in the Cygwin DLL already supports /usr/share/locale/locale.alias
>>> and I don't think it makes sense to change that.  For backward compatibility,
>>> we should continue to ship it, for instance, in a gettext-locale.alias
>>> package or something like that.
>>>
>>> There's also no good reason to add to this file.  Its only reason for
>>> existence is maintaining backward compatibility with pre-existing locale
>>> aliases like "french", "japanese.euc" or "no_NO" (albeit support for
>>> the latter is builtin to the DLL).
>>
>> Hi Corinna,
>>
>> Same for libX11 which is a *maintained* superset, compatible with more
>> legacy locales and systems, and could make support and results more
>> compatible between console and X, as well as other systems!
> 
> We shouldn't start supporting more *legacy* locales than what's defined
> by our existing /usr/share/locale/locale.alias, or locales only existing
> on other, foreign systems.

Useful having the same locale file in the same location across systems.

> Reading the locale.alias file costs time.  It's only read by Cygwin, if
> the requested locale isn't known by the OS, so it's hopefully not read
> at all in most cases.  Adding to it just doesn't make sense.  Same
> goes for supporting the X11 locale.alias file from the Cygwin DLL.
> 
>> $ cygcheck -f /usr/share/locale/locale.alias
>> gettext-0.22.5-1
>>
>> move it over to libintl8:
>>
>> $ cygcheck -l libintl8
>> /usr/bin/cygintl-8.dll
>>
>> or by itself in a gexttext-locale-alias package category Base?
> 
> The latter, as I already suggested in my previous reply.  Let's not make
> this more complicated than necessary.

Defining a new subpackage is more work than shuffling a file between ;^>

-- 
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis              Calgary, Alberta, Canada

La perfection est atteinte                   Perfection is achieved
non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter  not when there is no more to add
mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retrancher  but when there is no more to cut
                                 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry