Change the System or Browser Language

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Introduction

The system language used in Kicksecure is easily changed. The technical steps are identical to the Debian method because Kicksecure is based on Debian GNU/Linux and Xfce (or KDE). Users can also refer to Debian or Xfce/KDE upstream documentation. It is also easy to change the language in Tor Browser (see further below). Native English speakers do not need to make any changes.

System

These instructions are sourced from the Debian wiki ChangeLanguagearchive.org iconarchive.today icon and InputMethodBusterarchive.org iconarchive.today icon entries. In Xfce, it is unnecessary to install additional language packs.

All Languages

1. Open a terminal in Kicksecure ([[Qubes|Template:Q project name]]: in TemplateVM).

Start menu → Applications → System → Terminal

2. Check the language environment variable.

Run. [1]

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! env | grep LANG

The output should show. 

LANG=en_US.UTF-8

3. Determine the code for your language and country.

Before re-configuring the locale to your local language it is necessary to identify the two letter code for your language and country:

  • Language: the two-letter ISO 639-1 language code is found in the fourth column (639-1) herearchive.org iconarchive.today icon. For example, Japanese is ja, Korean is ko, German is de and so on.
  • Country: this websitearchive.org iconarchive.today icon ("Country Codes") identifies country codes. For example, Japan is JP, Korea is KR, Germany is DE and so on.

It is now possible to combine these codes to determine the language to export. For example, Japanese is ja_JP.UTF-8, Korean is ko_KR.UTF-8, German is de_DE.UTF-8 and so on.

4. Reconfigure locales.

Reconfigure locales with the following command.

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales

A window will prompt for the preferred the locale(s) to be made available. Select the preferred option(s) with the space bar -- multiple locales can be chosen.

5. Reboot Kicksecure.

This is required for the changes to take effect.

Figure: Japanese Locale in Kicksecure

Fonts

Depending on the locale, it may be necessary to install additional fontsarchive.org iconarchive.today icon in Kicksecure so characters present correctly system-wide ([[Qubes|Template:Q project name]]: in TemplateVM):

  • Debian stable fonts packagesarchive.org iconarchive.today icon.
  • TrueType (TTF) and OpenType (OTF) fonts are generally recommended. These packages start with fonts-.
  • For Korean fonts, an anonymous Kicksecure forumsarchive.org iconarchive.today icon contributor previously recommended the following additional packages: fonts-unfonts-core (Korean TrueType fonts) and nabi (Korean X input method). After restarting Kicksecure and starting nabi, the Korean script should be available system-wide for writing and reading. [2]

For example to install Japanese TrueType fonts:

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo apt update

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo apt install fonts-ipaexfont

Figure: Japanese Font Installation in Kicksecure

Input Method

The ibus package is recommended for languages other than English. As of 2021, this should work by default for the following languages:

  • English
  • Arabic
  • Bulgarian
  • Catalan; Valencian
  • Croatian
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch; Flemish
  • Estonian
  • Finnish
  • French
  • German
  • Greek, Modern
  • Hebrew
  • Hungarian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Latvian
  • Lithuanian
  • Malay
  • Mongolian
  • Norwegian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan
  • Russian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Slovenian
  • Spanish; Castilian
  • Swedish
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian

1. Open a terminal in Kicksecure ([[Qubes|Template:Q project name]]: in TemplateVM).

2. Install ibus.

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo apt install ibus

3. Launch ibus-setup ([[Qubes|Template:Q project name]]: in TemplateVM so changes are permanent).

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! ibus-setup

4. Add the preferred input method(s).

Multiple language input methods can be selected at this step.

Figure: Input Method Option

5. Select the preferred keyboard shortcut to change the input method.

Figure: Preferred Input Method Shortcut

6. Reboot Kicksecure.

In [[Qubes|Template:Q project name]]: shut down the TemplateVM and create a new AppVM based on the modified template.

7. Test the preferred input method(s) functionality.

  • Open a terminal in Kicksecure.
  • Use either the language icon on the system tray or the keyboard shortcut to change the input method.
  • If the procedure was successful, languages other than English will present correctly.

Figure: Non-English Input Method in Kicksecure

File:Manylanguageexample.png

8. Optional: Asian input method(s).

Preliminary tests reveal additional Input Method Engine (IME) packages must be installed for Chinese and Korean functionality; refer to the Debian InputMethodBusterarchive.org iconarchive.today icon entry for further information. After installation of IME packages, follow steps 3-7.

Figure: Korean and Chinese Input Method in Kicksecure

File:Asianlanguageexample.png

Unfortunately, this method does not appear to work for Japanese and Thai. Additional libraries, IME packages or fonts are likely necessary; for instance one Kicksecure userarchive.org iconarchive.today icon has reported that installing fcitx-mozcarchive.org iconarchive.today icon allows Japanese input. Readers who successfully configure functional Japanese and Thai input methods are encouraged to edit this wiki entry.

Tor Browser

Using one of the methods below is sufficient to change the language in Tor Browser.

about:preferences Method

  1. Type about:preferences in the URL bar.
  2. Scroll down to the languages section and search for the preferred language: Language → Search for more languages
  3. Add the preferred language.
  4. Restart Tor Browser.

Figure: Tor Browser Language Selection

Figure: Japanese Tor Browser in Kicksecure File:Japanesetorbrowser.png

Config File Method

Complete these steps in Kicksecure.

Thirty-six language packs are available for Tor Browser as of 2021:

  • English (en-US)
  • Arabic (ar)
  • Catalan (ca)
  • Czech (cs)
  • Danish (da)
  • German (de)
  • Greek (el)
  • Spanish (es-ES)
  • Spanish - Argentina (es-AR)
  • Persian/Farsi (fa)
  • French (fr)
  • Irish (ga-IE)
  • Hebrew (he)
  • Hungarian (hu)
  • Indonesian (id)
  • Icelandic (is)
  • Italian (it)
  • Japanese (ja)
  • Georgian (ka)
  • Korean (ko)
  • Lithuanian (lt)
  • Macedonian (mk)
  • Malay (ms)
  • Burmese (my)
  • Norwegian (nb-NO)
  • Dutch (nl)
  • Polish (pl)
  • Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR)
  • Romanian (ro)
  • Russian (ru)
  • Swedish (sv-SE)
  • Turkish (tr)
  • Vietnamese (vi)
  • Chinese (zh-CN)
  • Traditional Chinese (zh-TW)

To check if further languages are supported in the future, visit: https://www.torproject.org/download/languages/archive.org iconarchive.today icon (.oniononion icon).

Binaries and supported language packs are listed by Tor Browser version. The nomenclature for language packs is classified according to ISO 639-1 codesarchive.org iconarchive.today icon.

1. Open the Tor Browser configuration file.

Open file /etc/torbrowser.d/50_user.conf in an editor with root rights.

Kicksecure

See Open File with Root RightsOnion network Logo for detailed instructions on why to use sudoedit for better security and how to use it.

Note: Mousepad (or the chosen text editor) must be closed before running the sudoedit command.

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudoedit /etc/torbrowser.d/50_user.conf

Kicksecure for Qubes

NOTES:

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudoedit /etc/torbrowser.d/50_user.conf

  • After applying this change, shutdown the Template.
  • All App Qubes based on the Template need to be restarted if they were already running.
  • This is a general procedure required for Qubes and unspecific to Kicksecure for Qubes.

Others and Alternatives

  • This is just an example. Other tools could achieve the same goal.
  • If this example does not work for you or if you are not using Kicksecure, please refer to this link.

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudoedit /etc/torbrowser.d/50_user.conf

2. Add the relevant language.

For example, to add Vietnamese.

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! TB_LANG="vi"

Replace vi with zh-CN for Chinese and so on.

3. Save and download a new version.

After changing this setting, use Tor Browser Downloader by Kicksecure to install a new version. Afterwards, Tor Browser will support the user's native language.

Mozilla Firefox Language Pack Method

Complete these steps in Kicksecure.

1. Start Tor Browser.

2. Check Tor Browser's Firefox ESR version.

Tor Browser URL bar → about:support

The version output should be similar to: 68.9.0esr

3. Install a language pack.

Visit https://download-origin.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/68.9.0esr/linux-i686/xpi/archive.org iconarchive.today icon and install the required language pack.

Note: 68.9.0 in the above URL needs to be changed to match the Firefox ESR version Tor Browser is based on.

4. Restart Tor Browser.

Tor Browser will now default to the user's native language.

Debian Firefox Language Pack Method

Info Untested. Please test and leave feedback.

Complete these steps in Kicksecure.

1. Update the package lists.

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo apt update

2. Search for available language packs.

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! apt-cache search firefox-esr-l10n-

3. Install a language pack.

In the example below, replace -de with the preferred language.

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo apt install firefox-esr-l10n-de

4. Change the necessary Tor Browser setting. [3]

Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo find /usr/lib/firefox-esr/browser/extensions -maxdepth 1 -name 'langpack*.xpi' -exec ln -s '{}' /home/user/.tb/tor-browser/Data/profile/extensions/ ';'

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Debian wiki notes:

    First, you have to set EnvironmentVariables such as LANG, LANGUAGE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES to your local language. Usually LANG (or LC_ALL) is sufficient.
  2. ↑ Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo apt install fonts-unfonts-core Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! sudo apt install nabi
  3. ↑ https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=864401archive.org iconarchive.today icon
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