So, by using this function and by setting the LANGUAGE variable, you should be able to have a functioning i18n system that is not dependent upon a system's locale installation. Here is a sample from a method I created for a language class. Look for it on http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Developer soon:

    function Init ()
    {
        // set the LANGUAGE environmental variable
        // This one for some reason makes a difference FU@#$%^&*!CK
        // and when combined with bind_textdomain_codeset allows one
        // to set locale independent of server locale setup!!!
        if ( false == putenv("LANGUAGE=" . $this->_language ) )
            CCDebug::Log(sprintf("Could not set the ENV variable LANGUAGE = %s",
                                 $this->_language));

        // set the LANG environmental variable
        if ( false == putenv("LANG=" . $this->_language ) )
            CCDebug::Log(sprintf("Could not set the ENV variable LANG = %s",
                                 $this->_language));

        // if locales are not installed in locale folder, they will not
        // get set! This is usually in /usr/lib/locale
        // Also, the backup language should always be the default language
        // because of this...see the NOTE in the class description

        // Try first what we want but with the .utf8, which is what the locale
        // setting on most systems want (and is most compatible
        // Then just try the standard lang encoding asked for, and then if
        // all else fails, just try the default language
        // LC_ALL is said to be used, but it has nasty usage in some languages
        // in swapping commas and periods! Thus try LC_MESSAGE if on one of
        // those systems.
        // It is supposedly not defined on WINDOWS, so am including it here
        // for possible uncommenting if a problem is shown
        //
        // if (!defined('LC_MESSAGES')) define('LC_MESSAGES', 6);
        // yes, setlocale is case-sensitive...arg
        $locale_set = setlocale(LC_ALL, $this->_language . ".utf8",
                                        $this->_language . ".UTF8",
                                        $this->_language . ".utf-8",
                                        $this->_language . ".UTF-8",
                                        $this->_language,
                                        CC_LANG);
        // if we don't get the setting we want, make sure to complain!
        if ( ( $locale_set != $this->_language && CC_LANG == $locale_set) ||
             empty($locale_set) )
        {
            CCDebug::Log(
                sprintf("Tried: setlocale to '%s', but could only set to '%s'.",                        $this->_language, $locale_set) );
        }

        $bindtextdomain_set = bindtextdomain($this->_domain,
                                  CC_LANG_LOCALE . "/" . $this->_locale_pref );
        if ( empty($bindtextdomain_set) )
            CCDebug::Log(
            sprintf("Tried: bindtextdomain, '%s', to directory, '%s', " .
                    "but received '%s'",
                    $this->_domain, CC_LANG_LOCALE . "/" . $this->_locale_pref,
                    $bindtextdomain_set) );

        bind_textdomain_codeset($this->_domain, "UTF-8");
        $textdomain_set = textdomain($this->_domain);
        if ( empty($textdomain_set) )
            CCDebug::Log(sprintf("Tried: set textdomain to '%s', but got '%s'",
                                 $this->_domain, $textdomain_set));

    } // end of method Init ()