X11 Keyboard Tips
Default keyboard layout
On Debian based systems, you can modify the configuration stored in /etc/default/keyboard by reconfiguring the keyboard-configuration package e.g.:
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration
$ sudo service keyboard-setup restart
See also https://wiki.debian.org/Keyboard
Keyboard layout
Use setxkbmap to change the layout during a session. setxkbmap can be used to
change the settings on the fly. Look at the contents of /etc/default/keyboard
to see the current values. See man setxkbmap for help. E.g. The following
command sets the layout to 'gb' (United Kingdom :-0 ) with the 'intl' variant
and setting options of using the 'menu' key as the compose key and allowing
ctrl-alt-backspace to restart X.
$ setxkbmap gb intl compose:menu,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
The various layouts are stored in files under /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols e.g. the above layout is described in /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/gb
Each key is described as an array of normal state, shifted state, AltGr state
and shifted AltGr state. The xkb_symbols "intl" section describes the
variants. Note that the gb intl variant provides no method for creating the
tilde symbol (asciitilde), so you may prefer not to use the intl variant (with
dead keys) and use ComposeKeys with the normal gb layout
to produce accented characters etc.
Install the xvkbd package to use a virtual keyboard to support characters
you cannot otherwise access with a hardware keyboard.
Mouse Pointer
Enable using the numeric keypad as a mouse pointer by pressing Ctrl-Shift-NumLock. Thereafter the mouse pointer can be used by using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad. The '5' key performs a left mouse button click.
References
Related Topics: ComposeKeys, GnomeTips