https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=156477
--- Comment #48 from Carlos O'Donell codonell@redhat.com --- (In reply to Edgar Hoch from comment #47)
So I think the rpm *install script should not call build-locale-archive, but locale-archive should only contain the minimum locales and glibc should search for other locales in other language dependent locale files.
I general I agree.
However, if you read the context above you'll notice that this solution as presented today is a "workaround" for small cloud images and containers. It is not intended as a final solution.
The final solution includes splitting all locale data out of glibc-common into subpackages that include fixed locale data. That way you can install "English" or "German" locales and get all the en_* and de_* locales with their various character maps.
In such a final solution we would transition the system using a utility that looks at the value of %_install_langs and installs the required subpackages to match what you already have on your system.
Most users will never change any of this and have it remain "all" which means you continue to get all of the loales, and in the future, all of the locale subpakcages.
After the transition we would probably allow the user to use the utility to change their set of installed langauges, or simply get rid of the utility and have them manage the locale packages themselves. We don't know exactly what we're going to do here, and it's an open question.