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I've acquired a US layout for my Ubuntu desktop and I've configured the keyboard with the US international layout. I also own a macbook and the layout is configured in a way that when I want to enter international characters like ñ, or the tilde (e.g. á, é, í or even è ù) I can do it from vowels or characters themselves. Sometimes I need to write simple or double quotes but in the configured Ubuntu layour I need to use the altGr key in order to enter it. Similarly, in Windows I have to press twice the key. Also annoying.

I think that my problem is that in Mac the base US layout is kept and the international keys are what require a special combination of keys. I'd like a similar configuration here in Ubuntu.

Edit:

  • In mac if I want to write á I'd type: option + e (enter the tilde) + vowel.
  • If I want to enter ñ I'd type: option + n (shows ~) + n.
  • The best part in here is that I can write single and double quotes without weird combinations. I.e. the base US layout is kept, the international keys are what require a special combination of keys.

Is it possible to configure the layout similarly to the layout in mac?

José Cabo
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  • How does Mac handle such characters? – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Jan 12 '20 at 19:57
  • Thanks for trying to help! I've edited my question to reflect the answer for your question... I hope this clarifies my issue! – José Cabo Jan 12 '20 at 20:05
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    GNOME's on-screen keyboard has something similar to how you describe that "option" feature of Mac, but I'm not aware of any XKB keyboard layout which works that way. Actually I think it would be very hard to mirror that functionality using XKB. Possibly it would be easier to provide a tip if you let us know more exactly which symbols you often type which you would like to enter in some other way than your selected layout offers. Using a compose key might be part of a solution. – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Jan 12 '20 at 21:02
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    I use the compose key, https://askubuntu.com/questions/70784/how-can-i-enable-compose-key?rq=1, it can be used for many characters, á ü, ñ, ½ and so on, even though sometimes the character is not on the list, I use CTRL + SHIFT + U then (hexadecimal-number) to type the unicode directly. – Sadaharu Wakisaka Jan 13 '20 at 07:28
  • Thanks for all the help. I needed to restart. Probably there's a bug somewhere. – José Cabo Jan 14 '20 at 18:07

1 Answers1

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Apparently there's a layout already for that, but it wasn't working immediately or I had to restart.

Select the English International with Alt Gr dead keys (without the US in the name) then restart your system. If you don't restart, the keyboard layout won't work.

Now I can type:

  • ' -> single quote
  • AltGr + ' + e -> é
  • AltGr + e -> é
  • AltGr + n -> ñ
  • AltGr + ~ + n (so: AltGr + shift + ` + n) -> ñ

This is exactly what I was looking for... but apparently you just need to restart.

singrium
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José Cabo
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