How to Install YLMF Linux in English Instead of Chinese

How to Change YLMF Linux from Chinese to English

So you probably heard there is a new version of Ubuntu called YLMF that looks almost identical to Windows XP. A lot of people are excited about this because it creates an approachable version of Linux for Windows users who have wanted to switch but were apprehensive about a new OS interface.

I don’t want to split hairs about Linux vs. Windows and the who, what or why.

Needless to say this creates an opportunity for non-Linux people to start making a more comfortable transition, and in the end isn’t that what most Linux users think people should do? (Switch to Linux) So all critiques aside let’s look at YLMF.

I have read a lot of comments on news articles about YLMF asking

“Is there going to be an English version of YLMF?”.

The answer is “YES” and it is already out. The ability to change YLMF from Chinese over to English is built right in, all you need to do is follow 3 easy steps.

First you need to download and install YLMF. If you are reading this article I’m sure you have already been to the YLMF website and downloaded the ISO. Once you have burned the ISO you need to install it. If you are familiar with Ubuntu you should have no problem with the installation even though it is all in Chinese. To start the installation select the second option down on the setup menu for YLMF.

For those who are not 100% familiar with the Ubuntu installation menus (Like me) here is a link to the graphical guide that will help you decipher what is being asked on each screen:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall

Once you have YLMF completely installed log in for the first time. At the login screen the Chinese prompt is asking for your username followed by your password. (If you have any issues entering your username try entering it in all lower case.)

On your desktop you should see an icon for the terminal, click on this. (It looks like the Linux terminal icon or the Windows Command Prompt icon)
In the terminal type the following command:

sudo locale-gen en

It will ask you for your password, enter it now. You have now generated English locales for the system.

Next we need to change the “Language Support” options to English.

To do this, click on the “Start” menu and click on the fourth option from the bottom. Then in the next menu click on the second option from the top. In the following menu, click on the option at the very bottom of the menu. (Should be a blue flag icon)

(If you are having trouble navigating to this location the icon you are looking for an icon that looks like a blue flag.)

Once you have found the language support options you will notice the first option is set to English but the second option is set to Chinese. Set the second option to “English (United States)”. (Or whatever language you are shooting for.)

Once you have done this you will need to reboot the system. You can do this by click the start menu, selecting the first option from the bottom and clicking on the icon that looks like 2 arrows circling one another that looks like a recycle symbol.

Once the system reboots you should notice the login screen is now in English. Log back in.

Now all your menus should be in English with the exception of the desktops icons and “Start” menu icon. You can simply right click on any of the icons on the desktop and select rename if you would like to go with the traditional “My Computer”, “My Documents”, etc naming convention.

You can also go back into the “Language Support” menu and remove Chinese by selecting the option at the bottom. (You don’t need to do this.)

You are now all set with an English version of YLMF. Have fun!

Update: January 3, 2010:

Since some users are reaching this article trying to install other languages than English I wanted to add a quick update. Here is information I found on another site for generating all the locales available on the system:

Ubuntu based

The default installation contains only limited number of locales. You can generate all locales on server from command line:

    sudo ln -s /usr/share/i18n/SUPPORTED /var/lib/locales/supported.d/all
    sudo locale-gen

This may work for you if you are trying to install a language other than english.

Also, I have been unable to find any specific lists with all the various locales, but two references I found that were close are the following:

http://docs.moodle.org/en/Table_of_locales

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-126473.html

In my install I just used “sudo locale-gen en” instead of “en_US”. So with the reference links above you could always try the first part for your language. So for example:

Hungarian:   sudo locale-gen hu

French:   sudo locale-gen fr

etc. Just mess around with it and I’m sure you can get the appropriate language packs installed for your region.