build: allow disabling i18n (#8158)

build.zig

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
 
     // Ghostty resources like terminfo, shell integration, themes, etc.
     const resources = try buildpkg.GhosttyResources.init(b, &config);
-    const i18n = try buildpkg.GhosttyI18n.init(b, &config);
+    const i18n = if (config.i18n) try buildpkg.GhosttyI18n.init(b, &config) else null;
 
     // Ghostty dependencies used by many artifacts.
     const deps = try buildpkg.SharedDeps.init(b, &config);
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     if (config.app_runtime != .none) {
         exe.install();
         resources.install();
-        i18n.install();
+        if (i18n) |v| v.install();
     } else {
         // Libghostty
         //
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
             // The xcframework build always installs resources because our
             // macOS xcode project contains references to them.
             resources.install();
-            i18n.install();
+            if (i18n) |v| v.install();
         }
 
         // Ghostty macOS app
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
             .{
                 .xcframework = &xcframework,
                 .docs = &docs,
-                .i18n = &i18n,
+                .i18n = if (i18n) |v| &v else null,
                 .resources = &resources,
             },
         );
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
                 .{
                     .xcframework = &xcframework_native,
                     .docs = &docs,
-                    .i18n = &i18n,
+                    .i18n = if (i18n) |v| &v else null,
                     .resources = &resources,
                 },
             );
@@ -204,5 +204,9 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
 
     // update-translations does what it sounds like and updates the "pot"
     // files. These should be committed to the repo.
-    translations_step.dependOn(i18n.update_step);
+    if (i18n) |v| {
+        translations_step.dependOn(v.update_step);
+    } else {
+        try translations_step.addError("cannot update translations when i18n is disabled", .{});
+    }
 }

src/build/Config.zig

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ font_backend: font.Backend = .freetype,
 x11: bool = false,
 wayland: bool = false,
 sentry: bool = true,
+i18n: bool = true,
 wasm_shared: bool = true,
 
 /// Ghostty exe properties
@@ -175,6 +176,16 @@ pub fn init(b: *std.Build) !Config {
         "Enables linking against X11 libraries when using the GTK rendering backend.",
     ) orelse gtk_targets.x11;
 
+    config.i18n = b.option(
+        bool,
+        "i18n",
+        "Enables gettext-based internationalization. Enabled by default only for macOS, and other Unix-like systems like Linux and FreeBSD when using glibc.",
+    ) orelse switch (target.result.os.tag) {
+        .macos, .ios => true,
+        .linux, .freebsd => target.result.isGnuLibC(),
+        else => false,
+    };
+
     //---------------------------------------------------------------
     // Ghostty Exe Properties
 
@@ -420,6 +431,7 @@ pub fn addOptions(self: *const Config, step: *std.Build.Step.Options) !void {
     step.addOption(bool, "x11", self.x11);
     step.addOption(bool, "wayland", self.wayland);
     step.addOption(bool, "sentry", self.sentry);
+    step.addOption(bool, "i18n", self.i18n);
     step.addOption(apprt.Runtime, "app_runtime", self.app_runtime);
     step.addOption(font.Backend, "font_backend", self.font_backend);
     step.addOption(rendererpkg.Impl, "renderer", self.renderer);
@@ -467,6 +479,7 @@ pub fn fromOptions() Config {
         .exe_entrypoint = std.meta.stringToEnum(ExeEntrypoint, @tagName(options.exe_entrypoint)).?,
         .wasm_target = std.meta.stringToEnum(WasmTarget, @tagName(options.wasm_target)).?,
         .wasm_shared = options.wasm_shared,
+        .i18n = options.i18n,
     };
 }
 

src/build/GhosttyXcodebuild.zig

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ xctest: *std.Build.Step.Run,
 pub const Deps = struct {
     xcframework: *const XCFramework,
     docs: *const Docs,
-    i18n: *const I18n,
+    i18n: ?*const I18n,
     resources: *const Resources,
 };
 
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ pub fn init(
         // We also need all these resources because the xcode project
         // references them via symlinks.
         deps.resources.addStepDependencies(&step.step);
-        deps.i18n.addStepDependencies(&step.step);
+        if (deps.i18n) |v| v.addStepDependencies(&step.step);
         deps.docs.installDummy(&step.step);
 
         // Expect success
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ pub fn init(
         // We also need all these resources because the xcode project
         // references them via symlinks.
         deps.resources.addStepDependencies(&step.step);
-        deps.i18n.addStepDependencies(&step.step);
+        if (deps.i18n) |v| v.addStepDependencies(&step.step);
         deps.docs.installDummy(&step.step);
 
         // Expect success

src/build_config.zig

@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ pub const flatpak = options.flatpak;
 pub const app_runtime: apprt.Runtime = config.app_runtime;
 pub const font_backend: font.Backend = config.font_backend;
 pub const renderer: rendererpkg.Impl = config.renderer;
+pub const i18n: bool = config.i18n;
 
 /// The bundle ID for the app. This is used in many places and is currently
 /// hardcoded here. We could make this configurable in the future if there

src/os/i18n.zig

@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ pub const InitError = error{
 /// want to set the domain for the entire application since this is also
 /// used by libghostty.
 pub fn init(resources_dir: []const u8) InitError!void {
+    if (comptime !build_config.i18n) return;
+
     switch (builtin.os.tag) {
         // i18n is unsupported on Windows
         .windows => return,
@@ -102,11 +104,13 @@ pub fn init(resources_dir: []const u8) InitError!void {
 /// This should only be called for apprts that are fully owning the
 /// Ghostty application. This should not be called for libghostty users.
 pub fn initGlobalDomain() error{OutOfMemory}!void {
+    if (comptime !build_config.i18n) return;
     _ = textdomain(build_config.bundle_id) orelse return error.OutOfMemory;
 }
 
 /// Translate a message for the Ghostty domain.
 pub fn _(msgid: [*:0]const u8) [*:0]const u8 {
+    if (comptime !build_config.i18n) return msgid;
     return dgettext(build_config.bundle_id, msgid);
 }
 
@@ -132,6 +136,8 @@ pub fn canonicalizeLocale(
     buf: []u8,
     locale: []const u8,
 ) error{NoSpaceLeft}![:0]const u8 {
+    if (comptime !build_config.i18n) return locale;
+
     // Fix zh locales for macOS
     if (fixZhLocale(locale)) |fixed| {
         if (buf.len < fixed.len + 1) return error.NoSpaceLeft;