12-hour clock not available in Latin Spanish locale

Bug #593436 reported by luisaso
34
This bug affects 6 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
langpack-locales (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
Low
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: gnome-panel

A lot of latin American countries use the 12 hours clock format rather than the 24 hours clock. In ubuntu, is not possible to choose which format it's the right, at least in the local file for EL Salvador and for Mexico, which are the countries I've lived.

In colombia this bug was already solved (aparently) but awkardly it seems necesary to open a new bug report for each country that has the same problem.

You can see the next year old bug report for further reference:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/51255

To avoid hundreds of bugs reports like this, it is possible to enable the 12 h clock as an option, independently of the country your locale file is configurated? That would solve this problem permanently.
I dont know why, but until now programmers are been very reluctant to do so.

Thanks

Alejandro.

Revision history for this message
Eduardo Rivas (jerivasmelgar) wrote :

I suggest the name of the bug report is changed to "No 12-hour clock available in Latin Spanish locale", to make it appropiate for all countries. Having an extra option to let the user choose between the two options shouldn't be that difficult to implement, considering other languages have this feature already. Please suscribe to the bug and mark it as affecting you to increase the heat. Also, if you live in a country where you would like to see this, add it here. I'm here for El Salvador.

Revision history for this message
luisaso (luisasolarf) wrote :

how do I change the subject?
or do i have to open a new thread?

Revision history for this message
Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote :

the settings comes from the locale

affects: gnome-panel (Ubuntu) → langpack-locales (Ubuntu)
Revision history for this message
Ashwyn Falkingham (ashwyn-falkingham) wrote :

The setting comes from the locale, but when you use the English locale, you have the option to elect 12 or 24 hours clock. In almost every country there are people who prefer one or the other time format, it should be possible to choose in all locales, not only selected countries.

For reference, I'm an Australian in Mexico, installing Ubuntu for a friend who is very confused why he cannot have a 12 hour format clock if he wants it. I was giving him instructions on how to change it based on what I see on my laptop, with Australian locale settings.

Revision history for this message
luisaso (luisasolarf) wrote :

I totally agree with this:
"it should be possible to choose in all locales, not only selected countries"

That's what we have been asking since 8.04 or even before, because it's a simple choice available in every major operating system except ubuntu.
It's not a fundamental usability matter wether one prefers 12 o 24 hours.

But as simple as it is, in the previous thread (colombian locale) we even were requested to provide evidence that in our country the 12 h format was actually used!!! And even after providing reference sites, the bug remain the same (except for colombian locale, i guess)

It's so weird to install ubuntu for someone else who discovers that -as a matter of fact- is not possible to change the OS to his/her favorite time format. That's exactly what happens to me when I installed ubuntu in my dad's laptop almost 2 years ago.
Believe me! There's nothing more straightforward that showing to a new ubuntu user how wonderfully "easy" is having to edit a locale config file with weird code just to change a time format.

It's a simple thing, with a simple solution as far as i can tell.
We would be very grateful if this is solved soon :D

Revision history for this message
Eduardo Rivas (jerivasmelgar) wrote :

I changed the subject to make it more pertinent to all countries.

summary: - 12 Hours Clock not available In El Salvador nor Mexico.
+ 12-hour clock not available in Latin Spanish locale
Revision history for this message
Ricardo Hernández (richerve) wrote :

Confirmed for locale es_VE (Venezuela), here we use a.m. / p.m. just the same as Colombia for example

Revision history for this message
Sergio Torres (sergiotca) wrote :

I've seen this "bug" since 7.10, and release after release I've booted up for the first time hoping it had been fixed, just to realize it's still there. I can believe how long this annoying "lack of feature" has lived. Here hoping some developer understand how frustrating is trying to promote the "super OS" to my friends and family just to be ask why the clock is not on their native format (México). I know it can be modified quite painless editing some file, but is little "bugs" like this that make the OS feel unpolished for the common user.

Also, I've heard of a project called "One Hundred Paper Cuts", and although I haven't digg to deep on it, I believe it's spirit is to solve "low hanging fruits" like this. Maybe we should reorient this bug over there.

Revision history for this message
Braiam Peguero (braiampe) wrote :

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. I'm in Dominican Republic, using natty, but the option is there (but in the fact, it doesn't work as said in the bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/754571 . Please upgrade to the most recent version and let us know if you are still having this issue. Thanks in advance.

Changed in langpack-locales (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Eduardo Rivas (jerivasmelgar) wrote :

Using Natty and ES_SV (El Salvador). The option is there, but it doesn't work.

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

[Expired for langpack-locales (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

Changed in langpack-locales (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Expired
Revision history for this message
Edwin Pujols (edwinpm5) wrote :

The bug is still present on Trusty.

Changed in langpack-locales (Ubuntu):
status: Expired → Confirmed
Edwin Pujols (edwinpm5)
Changed in langpack-locales (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Changed in langpack-locales (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
status: Incomplete → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Gunnar Hjalmarsson (gunnarhj) wrote :

Adolfo,

Whatever you may think about it, this issue needs to be dealt with locale by locale. If you want to help bringing the matter forward, this is what needs to be done:

* Specify exactly which locales are affected.

* For each of those locales, provide a couple of links to e.g. large newspaper or governmental sites which show that the a.m./p.m. format is actually in use.

That's what was was just done for es_DO at bug #1288843, and today it was fixed.

Changed in langpack-locales (Ubuntu):
importance: Medium → Low
status: Triaged → Confirmed
Edwin Pujols (edwinpm5)
Changed in langpack-locales (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Edwin Pujols (edwinpm5) wrote :

@gunnarhj Uh, I got confused and set this bug to "Fix released" but this one is more general than mine.

Also about bug #1288843, I believe the format string should use small case "a.m." and "p.m.", at least in Spanish, I believe that previous releases used lower case before this bug... But, as I cannot seem to find a reliable source be free to dismiss this suggestion.

Revision history for this message
Gunnar Hjalmarsson (gunnarhj) wrote :

Yes, this general (too general IMO) bug is not fixed.

As regards the fix of bug #1288843, the format in the es_DO locale is now small case, i.e. "a.m." and "p.m.". If application packages such as indicator-datetime do something else, you may want to file bugs against those packages.

Changed in langpack-locales (Ubuntu):
status: Fix Released → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Martin Pitt (pitti) wrote :

I'm marking this a duplicate of bug 1288843. There are a lot of Spanish locales, and I'm fairly sure that most of them *don't* use "a.m.", or even use 12 hour clocks. If someone wants them for a different locale, these bugs should be filed individually, not in bulk.

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