xfce-aero-lang-changer

A language picker for Arch + XFCE X11 desktops, built with FLTK in Aero style.

Presents all generated system languages in a table with native names. Filter as you type with built-in Latin ↔ Cyrillic transliteration. Selecting a language writes it to locale.conf and offers to log out so the change takes effect on next login.

Made primarely for the purposes of my XFCE custom image distribution:
https://github.com/fiftydinar/xfce-aerolike

How it works

The tool writes LANG=<language> to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/locale.conf. On Arch Linux and derivatives, this file is sourced by /etc/profile.d/locale.sh at login. It also injects the same LANG export into ~/.xprofile for sessions that read that file.

The selected language is applied on the next login, not immediately. After picking a language, the dialog lets you either log out now or do it later.

Compatibility guard

Before opening the picker, the app checks for known incompatibilities — Wayland sessions, non-Arch distros, GNOME/KDE/Deepin desktop environments, and similar scenarios where locale.conf may be ignored or overridden. If any are detected, the app displays the details and exits.

This guard exists because the tool writes to a file that only certain session stacks respect. Running it blindly on an incompatible setup gives the illusion of a working language change while actually doing nothing.

Requirements

Run-time:

• Linux with XFCE (or another desktop that reads locale.conf/.xprofile)
• X11 session (Wayland is not supported by the compatibility guard)
• System languages generated (check with locale -a)
• Pango, Cairo and X11 client libraries (if not using AppImage builds)

Build-time:

• Rust toolchain (cargo)
• CMake (for bundled FLTK build)

Installing

Install - AppImage via make (generic, cross-distro compatible)

Clone the repo and let make download the correct AppImage for your architecture and install everything:

git clone https://github.com/fiftydinar/xfce-aero-lang-changer.git
cd xfce-aero-lang-changer
sudo make install-appimage

This installs the AppImage to /usr/local/bin and places the .desktop file in the applications menu.

It downloads the latest version by default, you can force the version with APPIMAGE_VERSION variable.

sudo make install-appimage APPIMAGE_VERSION=v1.0.6

Uninstall:

sudo make uninstall

Build - make (generic)

make && sudo make install

Uninstall:

sudo make uninstall

Build - PKGBUILD (Arch Linux based)

PKGBUILD for Arch Linux is in the root of the repo. Set _use_appimage=true near the top to skip the Rust build and use the pre-built AppImage instead.