Chapter 8. Customizing the desktop environment

Procedure

1. Click the settings (⚙️) button on the right to display a settings menu.

   

2. Select the Keyboard section.

3. In the Input Sources list, review the currently enabled input methods.

   

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4. If your input method is missing, click the Add Input Source button under the Input Sources list and select your language.

   Note

   If you cannot find your language in the menu, expand the selection by clicking More (⋮) at the end of the list.

   1. Select the input method that you want to use. A gear icon marks all input methods to distinguish them from simple keyboard layouts.

      

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   2. Confirm your selection by clicking Add.

5. Switch the active input method in one of the following ways:

   • Click the input method indicator on the right side of the top panel and select your input method.

     

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   • Switch between the enabled input methods by using the Super+Space keyboard shortcut.

Verification

1. Open a text editor.
2. Type text in your language.
3. Verify that the text appears in your native script.

Procedure

1. Open the Extensions application.

2. Enable the Desktop Icons extension.

   

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Procedure

1. Click on the Activities button in the upper-left corner of the screen.
2. Type Settings and click on the Settings icon to open the Settings application.
3. In the Settings window, click on Keyboard in the left sidebar.
4. Scroll down and select the Compose Key option.
5. Toggle the slider to enable the Compose Key.
6. Select the key you want to use as the compose key.
7. Once you have selected the compose key, close the Settings window.

Procedure

1. Allow all clients to connect to the X server:

   # xhost +

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2. Run the following command to set the compose key:

   # su - <username> -c "gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.input-sources xkb-options \"['compose:<compose_key>']\""

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   Replace <username> with the username of the user for whom you want to enable the compose key. Replace <compose_key> with the key you want to use as the compose key. You can use the ralt option to select the right Alt key as the compose key.

   To see other compose key options that you can use to set up a compose key on your keyboard, use:

   $ grep compose /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.lst

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3. Resets the access control:

   # xhost -

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Procedure

1. Create the /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-compose-key configuration file with the following content:

   [org/gnome/desktop/input-sources]
   xkb-options=['compose:<compose_key>']

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   Replace <compose_key> with the key you want to use as the compose key. You can use the ralt option to select the right Alt key as the compose key.

   To see other compose key options that you can use to set up a compose key on your keyboard, use:

   $ *grep compose /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.lst*

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2. Update the dconf database with the new configuration:

   # *dconf update*

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3. Restart your system or log out and log back in to your GNOME session for the changes to take effect.