Well none of those settings get saved, they are per-print-job not permanent from
that dialog, so it's not specific to paper size, portrait/landscape is the same.

The paper size shown in that dialog should be taken from LC_PAPER by default, so
what is the value of LC_PAPER ? if that is not set, then it is taken from the
locale.

If you really want to overwrite it permanently then use "spadmin", but I really
hate spadmin and it should go away in a perfect world. What's wrong with LC_PAPER ?

It can be done with spadmin so closing for OOo as that how it can be made sticky

The underlying thing which people *really* probably want is a little
system-config-locale thing which shows in the UI the *results* that people want,
e.g. in an eu_AU locale shows what defaults that will create e.g. a4, dollars
etc and lets the user override the results they want e.g. "letter" or pounds and
sets LC_PAPER etc to a matching solution and then sets the env in a sticky way

Caolan, I'm a little confused regarding comment 2.

You talk about these settings being 'per-print-job' but I'm not sure they are.

There seems to be three ways to alter a print job.

1. File > Print.

This has a range of settings that you can change 'per-print-job' and they should
default back to the defaults for the printer defined in cups each time this
dialog is invoked.

2. spadmin

This is where the system admin would set up the defaults for open office for
every user.  This is a bunk piece of junk that should go.  The system default
have already been defined in cups and shouldn't need to be defined again.  Maybe
it has some use I'm unaware of, but all it seems to do is duplicate the
functionality of cups and create another layer of settings to change (should
locale be wrong for example).

3. File > Printer Settings.

This is where the user might get to override the spadmin settings on a per user
basis and these (if they are needed) should persist across sessions.

If you can make 'per-print-job' changes in 1. above, so 3. shouldn't be doing
the same thing.  It's an unnecessary duplication of UI, and it only serves to
confuse.

If, on the other hand, 3. is a layer between 1. and 2. allowing users to
override some settings in spadmin on a permanent basis then this is what I would
expect it to do.

Personally, I think 2. and 3. are pointless and shouldn't exist.   But since my
locale is wrong (due to anaconda making insane assumptions) I'm taking this
moment to point out where else the system falls over.  I appreciate that if my
locale was 'right' then this wouldn't be an issue, but on the other hand, things
are not always right and having them wrong shouldn't cause this much of a headache.

I've already over-written the locale in cups, and shouldn't have to do it again
in OOo (and in numerous different places).  OOo should honour the values in cups
for each printer (if only because I've set those values in cups and even if they
aren't what locale says, they are what the user/sysadmin has defined) and I
shouldn't then have to change the same settings again in OOo to have things work.