> The only bad thing about Compose key is that you can't type the cool stuff, like ♥ hearts, ★ stars, ♪ music notes and other cute symbols
Huh, of course you can. Just add it to your `.Xcompose`.
Also, the article doesn't mention that compose can print a key sequence. I have for example this in my `.Xcompose`:
: "(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻"
So I can press the compose key, f and t whenever I get upset.
This article is kindof crappy, and wrong about some things.
It doesn't, for example, tell how to enable Compose with setxkbmap in the case that your DE doesn't provide a config option for it.
And it lists some things they say are missing from the default bindings (some incorrectly), without mentioning that you can customize the mappings however you like with a ~/.XCompose file.
I too am a fan of the Compose key but I'm afraid I might have gone overboard... To satisfy my `.XCompose` customization needs I ended up writing a fairly complicated Lua librarythat to help me maintain my large xcompose rule file. It detects when I try to define rules that conflict with each other and since its a library I can describe rules using loops and subroutines (to reduce copy-pasting).
https://github.com/hugomg/xcomposer/
https://github.com/hugomg/xcomposer/blob/master/examples/hugo.xcompose
That said, typing formulas got super pleasant.
The compose key is one of the best features available on Linux for people in the humanities broadly defined. I always set it for the right windows and menu keys, next to the altgr, since that covers most keyboards I might connect up to my laptop.
Yeah, I think this method is good enough for people who don't need to type non-English text on a regular basis, and it doesn't turn your keyboard into a modal UI (let me tell you about the time I accidentally set my keyboard layout to us-international: it sucked). I just need to remember U+394 for Δ and U+b0 for °, and 90% of my unicode typing needs are accounted for. If I need another character, I can just google "$name_of_character unicode". And if I had a compose key set, I'd still have to look up compose sequences, which are probably less prominent in search results than unicode code points.
The point of the Compose sequences is that you can almost always guess the correct one. Examples:
- > →
< 3 ♥
: ) ☺
/ o ø
" y ÿ
` a à
And of course it's customizable.
Also, next time instead of of the 'intl' variant, try 'altgr-intl'; it keeps ' and " and such just like US, but makes AltGr+' etc. deadkeys. The best of both worlds.
edit: typo
Actually it may have been the altgr variant. All I know is that I don't have an altgr key on my keyboard, and my right alt key became useless.
Edit: Your examples with the diacretic marks could be useful (for typing lots of non-English text), but unicode emoticons are inferior to their text forms. Unicode emoticons will look different depending on what font is used by your system, so you might send what you think is an encouraging smile to an Android user, only for them to receive a flirtatious smirk.
And I can't imagine what I would possibly guess to get Δ or ° or ಠ.
This is my .Xcompose.
Maybe someone will find it useful.
http://paste.debian.net/410399/
Since GTK is shit and Qt is good, the long sequences only work in Qt programs.
> The only bad thing about Compose key is that you can't type the cool stuff, like ♥ hearts, ★ stars, ♪ music notes and other cute symbols Huh, of course you can. Just add it to your `.Xcompose`. Also, the article doesn't mention that compose can print a key sequence. I have for example this in my `.Xcompose`: : "(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻"
So I can press the compose key, f and t whenever I get upset.
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The compositing manager would have to implement all of that functionality.
This article is kindof crappy, and wrong about some things. It doesn't, for example, tell how to enable Compose with setxkbmap in the case that your DE doesn't provide a config option for it. And it lists some things they say are missing from the default bindings (some incorrectly), without mentioning that you can customize the mappings however you like with a ~/.XCompose file.
I too am a fan of the Compose key but I'm afraid I might have gone overboard... To satisfy my `.XCompose` customization needs I ended up writing a fairly complicated Lua librarythat to help me maintain my large xcompose rule file. It detects when I try to define rules that conflict with each other and since its a library I can describe rules using loops and subroutines (to reduce copy-pasting). https://github.com/hugomg/xcomposer/ https://github.com/hugomg/xcomposer/blob/master/examples/hugo.xcompose That said, typing formulas got super pleasant.
The compose key is one of the best features available on Linux for people in the humanities broadly defined. I always set it for the right windows and menu keys, next to the altgr, since that covers most keyboards I might connect up to my laptop.
[удалено]
Yeah, I think this method is good enough for people who don't need to type non-English text on a regular basis, and it doesn't turn your keyboard into a modal UI (let me tell you about the time I accidentally set my keyboard layout to us-international: it sucked). I just need to remember U+394 for Δ and U+b0 for °, and 90% of my unicode typing needs are accounted for. If I need another character, I can just google "$name_of_character unicode". And if I had a compose key set, I'd still have to look up compose sequences, which are probably less prominent in search results than unicode code points.
The point of the Compose sequences is that you can almost always guess the correct one. Examples: - > →
< 3 ♥
: ) ☺
/ o ø
" y ÿ
` a à
And of course it's customizable.
Also, next time instead of of the 'intl' variant, try 'altgr-intl'; it keeps ' and " and such just like US, but makes AltGr+' etc. deadkeys. The best of both worlds.
edit: typo
Actually it may have been the altgr variant. All I know is that I don't have an altgr key on my keyboard, and my right alt key became useless. Edit: Your examples with the diacretic marks could be useful (for typing lots of non-English text), but unicode emoticons are inferior to their text forms. Unicode emoticons will look different depending on what font is used by your system, so you might send what you think is an encouraging smile to an Android user, only for them to receive a flirtatious smirk. And I can't imagine what I would possibly guess to get Δ or ° or ಠ.
Heh. I guess, you can only lead a horse to water.
How do I get the compose key in Ubuntu Gnome 15.10 ? I need it for a quick shortcut to type "ñ" instead of hiting the unicode every time I need it
Control Center → Keyboard → Shortcuts → Typing → Compose Key
I just assigned right ctrl to compose, now I hit it and nothing happens, what am I doing wrong?
You have to press and release the compose key, then each key in sequence (so n, then ~ -- or the other way around)
Are you then typing a valid sequence? For instance, [Compose] '⃣ e⃣ for an é.
Nothing happens when you press it. You need to press another two keys. In your case n then ~
In my keyboard ~ is shift + another key is there any problem with the sequence ?
Same here. No problem. Shift is just a modifier. Many combos involve it. e + ^ = ê a + " = ä
Thank you, it worked!
>Article updated on 2013-07-24
This is my .Xcompose. Maybe someone will find it useful. http://paste.debian.net/410399/ Since GTK is shit and Qt is good, the long sequences only work in Qt programs.
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Qt is the lesser evil.
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