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I switch between Dvorak and Qwerty keyboard layouts, and frequently find myself with mismatched layouts on my host operating system and a Linux virtual machine.
How can I easily switch the layout when I have the wrong layout set? Note that I'm talking about the command-line-only system console here, not a terminal window in a GUI.
Steve HHH
Posted 2013-02-08T03:22:25.917
Reputation: 5 590
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I found the solution to be to create the following aliases in my .bashrc file:
alias asdf="sudo loadkeys dvorak"
alias aoeu="sudo loadkeys us"
Now, when I find myself with the wrong layout, I type the same four keys on the home row to switch layouts.
The only issue I had with this was that it could be difficult to enter a password for the sudo command when the wrong layout is enabled. There are two solutions to this problem, but they may be a security issue in some environments:
Use a strong-ish password comprised only of numbers, symbols, and the letters M and A (they're the same for both Dvorak and Qwerty).
Set the suid bit on /usr/bin/loadkeys so it automatically runs as root (and you don't need to run it with sudo). I used the command sudo chmod u+s /usr/bin/loadkeys. Note: I needed to install the console-data package beforehand.
Edit: added excellent suid suggestion from ssmy.
Steve HHH
Posted 2013-02-08T03:22:25.917
Reputation: 5 590
1Nice password workaround. Might be a security issue, but maybe loadkeys can be set suid? – ssmy – 2013-02-08T05:23:12.470
Yeah, my password suggestion would not cut mustard in a production environment. On my personal systems, I always disable SSH password access to force RSA key authentication, and so only type a password either for sudo or when on the system console. – Steve HHH – 2013-02-08T07:07:00.150
This might also be helpful http://superuser.com/questions/598405/how-do-i-switch-to-dvorak-across-multiple-oss#comment741771_598405
– William – 2013-06-01T19:15:49.813