On Mar 8, 2017, at 12:59 PM, pd-list-request@lists.iem.at wrote:

From: Hans Roels <hans.roels@base.be>

Subject: Re: [PD] screen size tcl

Date: March 8, 2017 at 12:59:22 PM MST

To: pd-list@iem.at

Reply-To: hans.roels@base.be

Starting Pd like this "$ LANG=C pd" didn't solve the error, the plugin~-help file was still white. But changing these settings did solve the problem:
in ubuntu studio/Settings manager > Language support > Regional Formats : display numbers, dates and currency in the usual format for: English (UK)

and next restart the computer. My previous setting for displaying numbers was "Deutsch"
I'm glad that the problem is solved, thanks for the suggestion!