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    Debian 7 + Colemak (italian layout)=???

    • Started by Porgy
    • 4 Replies:
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    • Registered: 16-Jun-2014
    • Posts: 31

    Hello everybody!
    I'm practicing Colemak on the Debian 7 partition of my (very) old HP laptop. To activate Colemak I type the following command in a terminal window:

    setxkbmap us -variant colemak

    To switch back to italian layout QWERTY, I give this command:

     setxkbmap it

    Now, I want to touch-type in italian Colemak, which means I often need these letters: à è ì , especially è ("e" with a grave accent over it). Can someone help me out? I'm pressing all the keys while keeping AltGr pressed but I don't find it in the US variant of Colemak for Debian.
    Is there, maybe, a way to get an italian colemak layout in Debian?
    Also, this is my Keyboard file from etc/default/keyboard:

    # KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION FILE
    
    # Consult the keyboard(5) manual page.
    
    XKBMODEL="pc105"
    XKBLAYOUT="it"
    XKBVARIANT=""
    XKBOPTIONS="grp:alt_shift_toggle"
    
    BACKSPACE="guess"

    Please be kind, and help me out if you can! Thank you.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,361

    In my sig topic there's two Italian variants: One which keeps the symbol keys as they are on a standard Italian keyboard, and another which uses my own way ("Colemak[edition DreymaR]"). There's even a Spanish/LatAm layout that may be interesting if you like dead keys. Find the Locale topic from my sig topics for (way) more info!

    Last edited by DreymaR (21-Jul-2014 11:12:47)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    • Registered: 16-Jun-2014
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    Hello Dreymar,
    Sorry for the delayed reply - I had to print and read your very long post on the Big Bag of Tricks for Linux (by the way, impressive!). I'm sorry to bother, but you'll have to help me out with the installation and configuration of the files.

    First, I'm guessing I have to download the drey-xkb-patches.zip file from the DOWNLOAD section of your post to my home directory, in Debian, and unzip it. What do I do next? There are so many options and variables that I'm afraid of tampering with important system files. Mine, is a Debian 7, 32-bits, KDE desktop environment system (not GNOME).

    As you can see from my original post, I have a so-called pc105 model keyboard. I'd like to keep the CapsLock key as it is now - left-most key, along the home row.

    I don't want to mess up basic files, that's why I'm nervous and I'm asking before proceeding.
    Thank you.

    Last edited by Porgy (24-Jul-2014 09:31:04)
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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,361

    I suggest that you wait a little, while I prepare some info on running without patching. If you want to try patching, back up your xkb directory (in /usr/share/X11/) and get the patch command if you don't have it ('sudo apt-get install patch'). Then you can run the instdiff command found in my download, from the directory you downloaded and unzipped it to.

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    • Registered: 16-Jun-2014
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    DreymaR said:

    I suggest that you wait a little, while I prepare some info on running without patching.

    ...then I think I'll wait. May I suggest that, whatever it is that you're preparing, to keep it simple, please? For newbies like me - this might actually help spread the "good word" of Colemak layout. (Just saying...)

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