xmodmap vx xsetkbmap vs loadkeys vs ......

[Cuardin]

There seem to be an awful many ways to change the keyboard layout. Is there any prefered method, or doesn't it matter. Is there a difference at all?

//Daniel Armyr

[zrajm]

loadkeys is for the console (and cannot be used in X), xmodmap is for use in X, and xkb, which is loaded with command "xsetkbmap", is a newer method for for making changes in the keymap under X.

Xkb comes with a set of predefined "rules" for changing the keyboard layout and is quite modular (i.e. you may defined your keymap using as may rules as you like, one after the other), so as long as you want to do something somebody has done before (e.g. use dvorak, turn off "Caps Lock" or swap the Ctrl and Caps Lock keys) it's easy. Redefining the keymap from ground up seems a bit more complex though (haven't tried this myself yet though).

Xmodmaps are hardware-specific (i.e. if you change your [hardware] keyboard into something else, or use it on a different architecture, you may have to make changes for your xmodmap to work -- using xkb you would just change the rule specifying what keyboard hardware you got)If you want to produce an xmodmap, take a look at the program xkeycaps -- a graphical xmodmap editor which much simplifies making your own.

The format of loadkeys and xmodmap files are similar, but they're *not* compatible (sigh!).

[pjp]

Moved from Installing Gentoo.
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