Sometimes the descriptions given to the various errno values and signals by libc can be more of a hindrance than a help. The descriptions are subject to change by the authors of the libc, and can often be confusing if not downright misleading. The guru locale is an attempt to fix this by replacing the descriptive text with the name of the error or signal. Thus:
tacitus:~$ stty < / stty: standard input: Inappropriate ioctl for device tacitus:~$ cat /etc/motd > /dev/full cat: write error: No space left on device tacitus:~$ ls -l /wibble ls: /wibble: No such file or directory
can become, with the one command export LANG=guru:
tacitus:~$ stty < / stty: standard input: ENOTTY tacitus:~$ cat /etc/motd > /dev/full cat: write error: ENOSPC tacitus:~$ ls -l /wibble ls: /wibble: ENOENT