[cdtwoaway]

Defaulting to OS language can be terrible for organizations where the working language is different than a local language. Lots of programs do it and they always default to the language the OS was installed in, not the one that is currently used by the user.

I work in an international organization in Czech. The local IT team installs Windows in the local language, then sets it to English (which is fine, mostly). Half of our employees don't speak Czech well and changing weird tools to English is a constant and difficult hassle for those who haven't learned the basic words yet (printer drivers and small open source tools are the worst).

Browser language can be difficult as well. Half of the population is bi- or multilingual.. choosing which language to use for a browser (for me: German or English) affects how well Google Translate works - which I use daily. (Somehow, big American companies don't get the idea that people can live in multiple countries at the same time or speak multiple languages).

[Symbiote]

> I work in an international organization in Czech. The local IT team installs Windows in the local language, then sets it to English

That doesn't make sense. If the OS is "set to English", how do programs know to run in Czech?

Anyway, we just install Windows in English. (British English, so the dates appear the right way around and there's a chance of metric measurements.)

[cdtwoaway]

User / Domain profiles that set the language of wherever you login. The "original" installation remains in Czech.

Yes, it would be preferable to have the installations in English initially. But we weren't always international and not all of our employees speak English well (this is common for older people - former UDSSR ..., admin staff and people in roles that don't require a college education). There are still legacy tools in Czech, fully Czech teams (who obviously work partially in their native language), a need to work in the local language (procurement, legal topics,..) etc. It's just not economic to completely enforce English.

[Markoff]

just FYI Czechia was never part of USSR and it's quite offensive to tell it to Czech person after being occupied for decades by Soviet military. that's like saying Afghanistan and Iraq are US states to people living there, just because US occupied their country

[cdtwoaway]

You are correct, I was sloppy writing that and apologize.

Growing up, I learned that Czechoslovakia was part of the "Eastern Bloc" and we were never taught much about the individual countries and their peoples. Moving there taught me a lot more about the country and its neighbors' history and culture, and also my own culture.

Although I'm not sure about "Central Europe".

[Markoff]

it all comes down where you think Vienna it's, because it's for sure more eastern city than Prague, but i don't see people calling Austria eastern European country, which is political from before 1989

i have no problem ignoring central Europe when people will be consistent about geography especially regarding Austria, but since nobody it's putting Austria in eastern Europe then we have to live with Central Europe, after all Europe ends at Ural, so calling Czechia eastern Europe it's quite a stretch

[def_true_false]

> Although I'm not sure about "Central Europe".

This term predates the Iron Curtain.

[def_true_false]

Changing browser language settings is a couple clicks. Are your systems not user configurable or something?

[ip26]

people can live in multiple countries at the same time

As a silly American, can you explain how you live in multiple countries at the same time? Do you mean you, for example, live in one country and work in another?

[tormeh]

This is a favorite topic of mine. There are several multi-country metropolitan areas in Europe, for example Malmo-Copenhagen and Görlitz/Zgorzelec. Many cities have smaller suburb cities across the border, like Strasbourg-Kehl and Geneva-Annemasse. And the Benelux countries take this to the extreme, of course.

Even Berlin, which is pretty far from the Polish border, have commuter trains to Poland. That's right, the Berlin metro ticket will take you to Poland.

[atemerev]

I live in Spain and Switzerland. I spend most of the summer in Spain, and the rest in Switzerland. I work 100% remotely, so I can live and work anywhere (not seamlessly, as I need visas and residency permits and everything else, but still doable).

My wife is a scientist, so we travel a lot and change places of living. So far, I lived in Russia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Denmark, and about 2 months in the US.

[cdtwoaway]

As a young adult, I studied in a country (had a flatshare there) and took the train (2hrs) at the weekend and during the holidays to stay with my parents. I guess lots of people close to borders know family situations like that (parents, partners).

Now, I have a job with 90% business travel between two countries (but same cities). Have small apartments in both. It is just more economical and comfortable that hotel room living.

There are also often reasons not to completely move to a country, even if it's close (different tax situation, having to switch social security systems which affects your retirement, wanting to stay inside a certain social security systems which requires a place of residence..)

[Markoff]

you can live in Bratislava which it's less than hour drive from Vienna where you can work every workday, plenty of people in Europe live nearby border and spend lot of the time on both sides speaking completely different languages

[walshemj]

Working at CERN is one example