From: Leah Rowe <info@minifree.org>
Subject: Re: www/librewolf i18n
To: "ports@openbsd.org" <ports@openbsd.org>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2026 22:04:24 +0100


I tried implementing a patch based on this:

https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/packaging/packages/librewolf/-/blob/main/PKGBUILD

look how they handle translations there. i didn't copy the whole thing 
though. what i did was:

build the langpacks in post-build, then copy the "localizations" 
directory from WRKBUILD (i think that was the variable name), where 
dist/bin/ is... i deleted the patch.

anyway, librewolf has some information about building language packs for 
translation.

i now know that there is a way to make UI translations work, i just 
haven't quite cracked it on openbsd ports yet.

i'll leave the port english-only for now. you can still set the page 
language quite easily, to read web pages in other languages. i won't be 
working on it for a while, besides regular revision updates when new 
librewolf releases come out.

i have my other patch that i sent earlier, enabling the speed 
optimisations. for reasons mentioned in that thread, i won't have it 
merged until the next revision update, and i'll have it merged in the 
same patch as the next release update for librewolf. the current version 
as i write this is the latest version upstream.


Am 31.08.26 um 09:49 schrieb Leah Rowe:
> Hi everyone,
>
> Just  an update regarding the previously reported issue with 
> translations in the LibreWolf menu.
>
> I experimentally enabled FireFox language packs in my port, by adding 
> "locale" to the list of allowed extensions in the policy file. This 
> worked, allowing me to install a German language pack in LibreWolf, 
> and the menus changed to German e.g. in about:preferences
>
> When restarting the browser, I would briefly see German in the search 
> bar, but then it and the rest of the interface would quickly switch 
> back to English automatically and I'd have to install the language 
> pack again.
>
> I'm not sure what LibreWolf itself does, upstream, for translating the 
> user interface. Someone here complained the other day that they could 
> only get English in the interface. It should be noted that it's still 
> possible to change the requested page language, and this works 
> perfectly without being reset (I was able to get German internet this 
> way).
>
> LibreWolf normally blocks language packs because the mozilla ones lack 
> certain strings that they add to the menus, and apparently that can 
> cause issues, though I didn't test this fully. I see that LibreWolf 
> *does* provide what seem to be label translations for the UI, in 
> lw/l10n on the source tarball, and our mozconfig does seem to point to 
> it correctly, so I'm somewhat stumped. I don't know reliably how to 
> translate the user interface in LibreWolf on OpenBSD.
>
> If someone else has a clue, I'd be happy to try suggestions. My native 
> language is actually English, but I would like to be able to use my 
> preferred language reliably in LibreWolf :)
>
> I've looked at LibreWolf ports in various other systems e.g. arch 
> pkgbuild, freebsd, and I don't see anything obviously different in the 
> way they handle localisation. Any ideas?
>
-- 
Company director, Minifree Ltd
Registered in England, No. 9361826 | VAT No. GB202190462
Registered Office: 19 Hilton Road, Canvey Island, Essex SS8 9QA, UK