Configure your Linux distribution
-
1. You need to install Chinese fonts (or unicode fonts) and assign them.
Install the following packages if you use one of the distributions:
Debian : Arphic TT Chinese fonts, xfonts-intl-chinese, xfonts-cjk and unifont.
RedHat : taipeifonts, ttfonts-zh_CN, ttfonts-zh_TW
Installation guide for X, Mozilla and OpenOffice.org (Chinese)
2. You need an input method editor (perferred is a XIM [X Input Method], specs).
3. Set the locale right :
if you don't have the apropiate locales : edit /etc/locale.gen to select the locale(s) you want built, and then run locale-gen.
To enable full support also add following:
-
$(HOME)/.bashrc
alias ls="ls --show-control-chars"
export LC_ALL=zh_TW.Big5 // To see which locales your system supports : locale -a
export LC_CTYPE=zh_TW.Big5 // LC_CTYPE is an environment variable which indicates how characters should be handled.
export LANG=zh_TW.Big5
export LC_MESSAGES=zh_TW.Big5
export XMODIFIERS="@im=xcin" // XMODIFIERS is an environment variable indicating which XIM server to talk to
stty cs8 -istrip // stty - change and print terminal line settings
stty pass8 // pass8 same as -parenb -istrip cs8
$(HOME)/.inputrc
set meta-flag on
set convert-meta off
set output-meta on
If you are using gnome2 (so also gtk2 en pango 1.2) and xcin, using the following commands to use it in gnome2 programs :
export LANG=zh_TW.Big5
export XMODIFIERS=@im=xcin
xcin& program to run (i.e. xcin& gaim)
(if you add previous lines without the 'program to run' in a .profile -file in the user home directory, xcin will run automatically on login)
Translation
Gnome and KDE (other wm might as well but i'm not sure) use a on the fly translation method making use of PO-file (gnu gettext message catalogs). So if you have the sourcecode of a program and there is a po directory with po files in, don't hesitate to translate and send it to the program maintainer.
Other tips and tricks
- If you can't view Chinese in Xpdf, you can adjust .xpdfrc (should be in your home dir) and add reference to your Chinese fonts in there.