The context: since Trixie, it is no longer possible to use `localectl` to make changes. For reference: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1108144 The problem is that I was still able to use the command on some systems... This means that restrictions are sometimes randomly ignored! I guess this is due to misuse of the D-Bus configuration overrides : - the "deny" policies are added in the folder `/usr/share/dbus-1/system.d/` - this folder also contains the default "allow" policies - but D-Bus configuration inclusions are not with a deterministic order - so randomly we can have systems where "deny" are loaded before "allow" policies While debugging, I found that renaming the file `systemd-localed-read-only.conf` can change the behavior... But again, randomly (alphabetical order doesn't matter). According to the D-Bus documentation https://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-daemon.1.html : - add the "deny" policies into the same file that contains the "allow" policies (this involves modifying/patching the existing `org.freedesktop.locale1.conf`) - or use another include directory, specially designed for the overrides (but other locations defined in `/etc/dbus-1/` are for administrators, not packages) In conclusion, the problem is not blocking because it's just a new restriction that isn't always enforced. But randomness can be very disturbing! Thanks for your work ;)
localectl is not supported in Debian, you _must_ use only the officially supported Debian-specific tools to set the locale.
On Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:29:20 +0100 Luca Boccassi <bluca@debian.org> wrote: > Control: tags -1 wontfix > Control: close -1 > > localectl is not supported in Debian, you _must_ use only the > officially supported Debian-specific tools to set the locale. > Hi Luca, Yes, I know now that localectl should not be used (sadly) to change the configuration in Debian. I discovered this with Trixie which now prevents these actions using D-Bus policies... But the problem I'm mentioning here is precisely this blocking which is not entirely correct : https://salsa.debian.org/systemd-team/systemd/-/blob/debian/master/debian/extra/dbus-1/system.d/systemd-localed-read-only.conf I noticed that on some machines these restrictions were not being applied : - D-Bus configuration files inside a same folder are included in undefined order - so it may happen that your override is loaded before the file "org.freedesktop.locale1.conf"that authorizes everything It's not a big deal, but it's quite annoying to have identical systems that react differently. Grégory Marigot Ingénieur développement & administration système Bureau Caen : Quartier Kœnig - 153, rue Géraldine MOCK - 14760 Bretteville-sur-Odon Bureau Vitré : Zone de la baratière - 12, route de Domalain - 35500 Vitré 02 72 34 13 20 | 33.76.13.85.812 | https://teicee.com?pk_campaign=Email https://www.facebook.com/teicee https://www.linkedin.com/company/t-c-e https://github.com/teicee