I'm trying to optimize my PostgreSQL 8.3 DB tables to the best of my ability, and I'm unsure if I need to use varchar_pattern_ops for certain columns where I'm performing a LIKE against the first N characters of a string. According to this documentation, the use of xxx_pattern_ops is only necessary "...when the server does not use the standard 'C' locale".
Can someone explain what this means? How do I check what locale my database is using?