localectl

A replacement of systemd's localectl for systemd-free Linux systems (Artix, Void, Gentoo with OpenRC, etc.). It provides the same CLI interface and D-Bus behaviour so that software expecting localectl works unchanged on init systems other than systemd.

Why

Some software hardcodes localectl as a dependency without providing a fallback, making it effectively unusable on systemd-free systems even when a org.freedesktop.locale1 D-Bus service is present. This shim fills that gap by providing a compatible localectl binary backed by any compliant D-Bus implementation.

For example, COSMIC Desktop's settings app invokes localectl list-locales and localectl set-locale directly to populate its language selection list. Without a working localectl, the list shows up empty on non-systemd systems.

Commands

localectl [OPTIONS...] COMMAND ...

Commands:
  status                                Show current settings (default)
  set-locale LOCALE|VAR=VAL...          Set system locale
  list-locales                          Show known locales
  set-keymap MAP [TOGGLEMAP]            Set virtual console keyboard mapping
  list-keymaps                          Show known virtual console keymaps
  set-x11-keymap LAYOUT [MODEL [VARIANT [OPTIONS]]]
                                        Set X11 keyboard mapping
  list-x11-keymap-models                Show known X11 keyboard models
  list-x11-keymap-layouts               Show known X11 keyboard layouts
  list-x11-keymap-variants [LAYOUT]     Show known X11 keyboard variants
  list-x11-keymap-options               Show known X11 keyboard options

Options:
  --no-convert          Don't convert between keyboard mappings
  --no-ask-password     Do not prompt for password
  -h, --help            Show help

Building

cargo build --release

License

GPL-2.0+