21.1.3.5 gettext() vs. lgettext()

In Python 2.4 the lgettext() family of functions were introduced. The intention of these functions is to provide an alternative which is more compliant with the current implementation of GNU gettext. Unlike gettext(), which returns strings encoded with the same codeset used in the translation file, lgettext() will return strings encoded with the preferred system encoding, as returned by locale.getpreferredencoding(). Also notice that Python 2.4 introduces new functions to explicitly choose the codeset used in translated strings. If a codeset is explicitly set, even lgettext() will return translated strings in the requested codeset, as would be expected in the GNU gettext implementation.

See About this document... for information on suggesting changes.