GOAL: To be able to type in Chinese with Gaim, Thunderbird, Firefox, etc. (Preferrably using "Da Yi" entry, but "bopomofo" is OK).

I have just upgraded to FC4 (a bit late, I know) and I discovered the feature in "Desktop->System Settings" called "Input Method Switcher". (I believe the program name is "system-switch-im"). Perfect! Just what I've been waiting for. It said something like: "..allows you to switch between different input methods ...."

I selected "custom" and then "Chinese (Taiwan)" and clicked "ok". The input program that showed up was "xcin"--a program that I tried to install a year or two ago (FC3 or 2?) and failed. It said changes have been made and you must restart X to take effect. I did.

-It didn't say anything like HOW to switch input methods, though.
-The Gnome manual doesn't mention switching input methods (or, at least I couldn't find it).
-I searched threads on this site for about an hour, but most of the discussions were old and related to FC3 or other distros. With no mention of FC4, I'm assuming it's working OK for most users.

I would like to at least experience the Chinese input that comes with FC4 before I mess with installing a new one.

If I type "xcin" at a prompt, it says:
XCIN (Chinese XIM server) version 2.5.3-pre2.
(module ver: 20010918, syscin ver: 20000210).
(use "-h" option for help)

xcin: locale "en_US.UTF-8" encoding "utf-8"
xcin: error: /etc/chinese/xcin/xcinrc:
locale section "en_US.UTF-8": DEFAULT_IM: value not specified.

Please point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

ARGH!!!! I found it. It's in Desktop->Preferences->More Preferences.

However, in order to switch between languages, the languages have to be available. I now have a square on my panel with "En" in it. Clicking gives you the option to "Add or Remove" languages. There's nothing to click on to add.

WARNING:
I downloaded scrim-1.2.2-8fc3.i386.rpm and installed it. (Note that it is for FC3 and I'm using FC4). Then, Desktop->Input Method Switcher had scrim in the selection. Excellent. THEN, I figured out that both Firefox and Thunderbird were broken!

Fortunately I had also downloaded the source code for scrim-1.4.4 (tar.gz) and with no access to browser I compiled and installed 1.4.4. Now FF and TB are working again. WHEW!!!

CURRENT:
Does anybody know how to add language support so that I can add languages to scrim?

Thanks!