LANGUAGE_CODE should be automatically set based on system locale

[Håkan W]

Many other frameworks (like Wordpress) make a good job of using the user's language when you set them up. In many countries, for example some european countries where people are generally not english speaking, this is a really important first impression.

I propose that the settings.py should set LANGUAGE_CODE to the user's locale, if:

1) We find a locale on the system
2) The locale is matched by the list of locales supported by django

If not, we can fall back to the normal en-us.

In addition (but this is more like a bonus thing), since USE_TZ is always set to True by default, I think it would be cool to set the TIME_ZONE variable to the user's time zone, but this might be better spun off as another ticket.

[Russell Keith-Magee]

Sounds like a good idea to me - having correct localization would be a good OOTB behaviour for non-US users.

From an implementation perspective - the end user should get a settings.py file with the "right" locale, not a settings.py file with logic that calls out to the environment. We also need to make sure it works on non *nix platforms (esp window), and falls back appropriately to en-us when no data is available.

Agreed that the timezone thing should be a separate ticket; similar rules would apply for that implementation.

[Claude Paroz]

As for me, the LANGUAGE_CODE of a Django project and the developer's system locale are rather different things. I'm not opposed to this idea, but in general, I think the LANGUAGE_CODE is part of the settings you have to review each time a new project is created. I don't care that much about the default.

[Håkan W]

For me, and I know others have the similar problem, the first thing I always have to do is set this to my language. I think it would rock if django had sensible defaults when it's easy :)

[Håkan W]

I'm working on this here: ​https://github.com/hakanw/django/commits/default_settings_locale

No tests so far, just testing the approach.

[Håkan W]

Now there's code + tests that pass above.

[Sasha Romijn]

Could you make a proper pull request against django/django master on GitHub? That makes review a lot easier :)