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[[!tag archived]]
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The **Formats** option allows users to choose which unit system (metric
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or imperial), paper size, and date and time format to use according to
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the standards in use in a territory.
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We decided to call this option **Formats** which is how it is named in
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*GNOME Settings* and close to how it is named in the
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[Windows installer](https://edwardvbs.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/install1.png).
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For example, the USA and United Kingdom, two English-speaking countries,
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have different standards:
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<table>
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<tr><td></td><td>USA</td><td>United Kingdom</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Unit system</td><td>Imperial</td><td>Metric</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Paper size</td><td>Letter</td><td>A4</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Date & time</td><td>3/17/2017 3:56 PM</td><td>17/03/2017 15:56</td></tr>
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<tr><td>First day of the week</td><td>Sunday</td><td>Monday</td></tr>
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</table>
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We want to take into account people travelling or living in a territory
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in which they prefer to have the interface in their own language rather
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than the territory's language but want to use the local formats. *For
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example, a Chinese person travelling to the US for business might prefer
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Tails in Chinese but Sunday as the first day of the week to coordinate
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with her clients.*
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That's why we decided to have this option in the Greeter for more user control,
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like configured usually in the installation of operating systems (like
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[Debian](https://media.if-not-true-then-false.com/2012/08/03-debian-select-your-location-560x420.png)
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and Windows).
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Now, this flexibility can also lead to confusion. *For example, a French person
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traveling to Japan for business might want Sunday as the first day of the week
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to coordinate with her clients but might not be able to read the [names of the
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days in Japanese](https://labs.riseup.net/code/attachments/download/1538/formats-implemented-session-fr-jp.png).*
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In Windows, these problems are solved by having [very fine-grained
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settings](https://labs.riseup.net/code/attachments/download/1568/French%20in%20the%20USA.png)
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for each of the settings and allowing to change them in the session without
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restarting.
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Unfortunately, *GNOME Settings* doesn't have this:
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- Formats can only be changed [all at once](https://labs.riseup.net/code/attachments/download/1570/GNOME%20all%20at%20once.png).
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- Changing the formats requires [restarting](https://labs.riseup.net/code/attachments/download/1571/GNOME%20restart.png).
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So, the confusion experienced by the French person choosing Japanese
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formats cannot be corrected from inside the session in GNOME.
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Still, we believe that:
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- Having that flexibility is worth it and allowed by most other
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operating systems.
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- Tails is an operating that is meant to be restarted quite often
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(let's say at least once a day), and in the rares scenarios where
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explicitly setting a format leads to confusion:
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- the confusion would be annoying but not critical
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- the user would likely learn from her mistake and not set the format the next day.
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Ideally, the limitations of *GNOME Settings* would not exist but as of
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now we still prefer offering flexibility in the Greeter and a simple
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model similar to the one of Windows and GNOME. Even if we are conscious that it
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might lead to confusion in some cases, we prefer that to having no flexibility
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or having a more complex model as discussed in [February
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2017](https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-ux/2017-February/003339.html). |