The only way I can accept the date and time format on my computer is the 24hr clock along with the DD MMM YYYY date format. I can use the ISO format but the most readable to me is always going to be able to see the short date format. “16 Oct 2024” is an easy way to read the date and it just looks right.
This was originally posted on 24 Jun 2017 on my old site and when I moved it over, it didn’t really move quite right. I decided to publish this again for my reference and because I have pointed this to others and it looked broken. That means, time to fix it and make an update for Plasma 6.x.
In the System Settings application with KDE 5.x and 6.x, you don’t have the same way to be able to type out the format as you could previously with KDE 3.x and 4.x. I was rather frustrated with this change but in a fit of frustration, I played around with some of the configuration files but thought this was the pits. Why remove what gives KDE it’s strength? Why take away entering the date format exactly how I like to have it?
I don’t like the typical US format of MM/DD/YYYY I think it is all backwards and rather silly. Also, the whole AM / PM thing is dreadful as well. The 24 hour clock is far superior and eliminates confusion. Even my kids prefer the 24hr format!
The fix for the superior, should be default format is to go into the Region & Language setting and select Modify within the Time section.
By selecting the C format, the time is expressed exactly how I like it. DD MMM YYYY along with the 24 hour clock using a leading 0.
Making this the default forces all the applications to use the most readable format once again! You will have to log out and back in again for everything to change to this new format. This format is very important to me where, in Kontact, the Personal information Management suite in KDE where I spend a lot of my time each day.
Although not an option here, I do like ISO format YYYY-MM-DD as that makes perfect sense. I use it very often when naming files to make for easy sorting using the file system but without the dashes: YYYYMMDD.
For more information on the KDE Plasma Desktop Environment, check out The Plasma Handbook. Here you can find more information on all the features of this fantastic desktop environment.
Final Thoughts
I first became aware and addicted to the DD MMM YYYY format in 1992 when I bought my first Amiga, the A600. I thought it was such a great format and worked so well with my somewhat OCD personality. Since that time, I always write my dates in that format. I like seeing it displayed that way everywhere. Using this features makes my world a little closer to perfection, once again. It’s a little thing but it is an important thing for me.
Though, I would prefer manually entering the formats in KDE Plasma, like was once available but I understand their focus on making things “simple.” I don’t think going through a giant menu of options is the simplest method but at least I have my option to have it the way I want it.
References
KDE Plasma Personal Information Manager
KDE Plasma Handbook
Get openSUSE
Blatherings Archive
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