[Techtalk] Quick question, I hope?

[Figaro]

Hello all.
I need to use a Debian system for a few days that is not my own,
therefore has some configs. that are quite different than one is used
to. What I need to do is reset system wide locale. I have done the
dpkg-reconfigure locales, and locale-gel all (as root), rebooted. But
quite a few programs are throwing seg faults with messages similar to:
OUTPUT from: #strace xsane
-----------------snip------------------------------------------------------
> open("/usr/share/locale/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/sane-backends.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
> open("/usr/share/locale/en.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/sane-backends.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
> open("/usr/share/locale/en.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/sane-backends.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
> open("/usr/share/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/sane-backends.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
> brk(0x821b000)                          = 0x821b000
> --- SIGSEGV (Segmentation fault) @ 0 (0) ---
> +++ killed by SIGSEGV +++
> Process 28961 detached------------------------------snip--------------------------------------------------------------------

OUTPUT: from  $mail (daily.cron)
--------snip------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Subject: Cron <root at apogee> test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily )
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ANSI_X3.4-1968
---------------------------------------------snip-------------------------------------
OUTPUT from: #strace k3b

------snip--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> System locale charset is ANSI_X3.4-1968
> Your system's locale charset (i.e. the charset used to encode filenames) is set to ANSI_X3.4-1968. It is highly unlikely that this has been done intentionally. Most likely the locale is not set at all. An invalid setting will result in problems when creating data projects.
> Solution: To properly set the locale charset make sure the LC_* environment variables are set. Normally the distribution setup tools take care of this.
-------------------snip---------------------------------------------------------------------
OUTPUT of: #locale
------------------snip----------------------
> LANG=
> LC_CTYPE="POSIX"
> LC_NUMERIC="POSIX"
> LC_TIME="POSIX"
> LC_COLLATE="POSIX"
> LC_MONETARY="POSIX"
> LC_MESSAGES="POSIX"
> LC_PAPER="POSIX"
> LC_NAME="POSIX"
> LC_ADDRESS="POSIX"
> LC_TELEPHONE="POSIX"
> LC_MEASUREMENT="POSIX"
> LC_IDENTIFICATION="POSIX"
> LC_ALL=
---------------------snip-----------------------------------




I have done dpkg-reconfigure xsane, k3b, and again rebooted. Still the
locale does not change.
So I need a quick and dirty method to get this reset and get my work
done. I will be scrubbing the system after the reports are written and
submitted. A complete new system will then be installed and set up.. but
I need to use this sys. to get the work done now.
Presently using a mixture of Lenny and SID, was I am told a Knoppix 5.0
install several months ago. This sys. is not often used here but has a
lot of graphics and scribus stuff on it. And a massive .pdf collection.
I pulled in fresh dist upgrade, is mostly SID now with residual configs.
I should mention that this is a standalone workstation, not on a network.
#locale -a shows all the locales were generated and are avail.

THANK YOU in advance.
and Joyous Holidays to all.
matthew