Keybindings and changing keyboard layout [was: Writting Greek in Emacs]

[<tomas@tuxteam.de>]

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On Sat, Sep 21, 2024 at 02:53:54AM +0300, Thanos Apollo wrote:
> Max Nikulin <manikulin@gmail.com> writes:
> 
> > As to input method using modifier keys, it might lead to conflicts with 
> > default key bindings for some commands.
> 
> Yes, when I write in Greek I do not have access to emacs keybindings
> (C-b etc).

Yes, this is somewhat annoying, but I haven't yet a good idea on how
to cope with that.

I like to change the keyboard layout at the X level, since then I can
also type in Greek into a terminal or into a (gasp!) browser, and the
keyboard layout stays consistent.

But Emacs (rightfully) balks at me that CTRL-β is a funny control sequence.

Surprisingly, some applications seem to magically "cope" in some way. In
Firefox, CTRL-τ opens a new tab (as CTRL-t would do under a Latin layout).
But this doesn't really count: Firefox has just a few useful keybindings
and the whole model actually discourages using them, while Emacs has
a very rich set of bindings which is at the core of its user interaction.

Given the very dense keybindings in Emacs, this seems like a daunting
task: I even guess it has some ugly fuzzy borders: just blindly going
by "places" in the keyboard brings up issues like CTRL-Z and CTRL-Y
being switched for German layouts, and Germans would expect those bindings
to "move" with the key labels instead of following "geometry". Likewise
for French ("A" "Z" where usually "Q" and "W" are, etc).

So the "problem" seems to be ill-defined and lots of careful thinking
and tinkering needed to come up with a useful solution.

>   That's why I would like to implement a new greek input
> method in emacs.  It is even harder to use & configure Greek in emacs in
> different OS, depending on how emacs was installed.

I actually want to change the keyboard layout at the X level (read: the
"OS", but that would be a lie, because I haven't yet looked at the
Linux terminal), for the above reasons.

> (I'm not familiar with other OS outside of the GNU ecosystem, but this
> is what colleagues of mine claimed).

I guess "there is no magic". I haven't yet a 100% satisfying approach.

But I'd like to know whether/if people have come up with ideas :)

Cheers
-- 
t

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