MountainX, you don't need sudo in /etc/rc.local. It runs as root on
bootup, like all init scripts.
Are you sure your loadkeys method even works? loadkeys is a totally
different way to change your keymap: It changes the Linux kernel
keymap. I though X put the kbd in raw mode, and got keycodes which
weren't affected by Linux's keymap, but maybe I'm remembering wrong or
it's changed in the few years since I've used loadkeys instead of just
xkb options. I don't think loadkeys even accepts the same syntax as
xmodmap; loadkeys(1) and keymaps(5) don't say anything about "add"
lines.
The easiest way to swap ctrl and caps (for X11, doesn't affect the text
consoles like loadkeys) is to set the xkb option ctrl:swapcaps. The defaults
can be set in xorg.conf, or you could arrange for your X session startup
scripts to include setxkbmap -option ctrl:swapcaps.
I like having my capslock as an extra control (ctrl:nocaps), since some
of muscle memories send my finger to the key labeled Ctrl, but capslock
is right there on the home row so it's easier to reach, and where
Control is on e.g. Sun and original VT100 keyboards. :) Plus, I find
the Caps Lock feature useless and annoying.
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
# Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps"
Option "Autorepeat" "200 40"
#Ubuntu default: lv3:ralt_switch ISO level 3 shift
EndSection
Anyway, none of this has anything to do with the bug report, which was that if
caps-lock is on _when_ you enable ctrl:nocaps (either with setxkbmap or with
gnome), you won't be able to turn caps-lock off again, because you don't have a
caps-lock key. This has happened to me, and I had to re-enable capslock, turn
off capslock, then re-do the setting. (setxkbmap -option '' clears all
options, BTW. Get that into your command history before you try to test this,
unless you really like clicking your mouse. setxkbmap -print is interesting...)
Strangely, X turns off the capslock LED when you hit capslock while
ctrl:nocaps is set. If you hit numlock a couple times, it will sort
itself out and eventually display the correct set of LEDs.
I was going to say this isn't a gnome-keyboard-preferences bug, since
it's the same problem when you use setxkbmap. But then I realized that
I couldn't imagine anybody wanting caps-lock to be stuck on, so it would
be a nice feature for g-k-p to turn off caps-lock if it's on before
applying any setting that leaves the keyboard without a caps-lock key.
That would make it more than a straight GUI equivalent of setxkbmap
(with persistence, now that that works properly...)
The X people probably wouldn't see it as a bug, either. They probably
wouldn't be willing to make setting xkb options have side effects, like
turning off caps-lock, since you never know what weird things people
might want. GNOME should be putting the user-friendly do what almost-
everyone-wants wrapping on top of thing, vs. the direct uncooked
interface you get with setxkbmap. OTOH, I personally would like it if
setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps turned off caps-lock, just in case. e.g.
maybe put that in a script you can run with a mouse click, if you're
using some other window manager. I can't think of any situation where
I'd want to cripple a console by leaving it stuck in caps-lock on mode.
Although you can hold shift to reverse caps-lock, so you could type
setxkbmap, or anything else in lower case, unless that feature was
disabled (with another xkb option, I think).
BTW, leaving caps-lock on is an easy mistake to make (once, anyway),
because turning it on when you wanted ctrl (if that's the layout you're
used to) is what might make you run g-k-p in the first place, before you
touch the keyboard again. (That's what I did.)
--
Setting capslock to control in gnome keyboard preferences leaves capslock stuck
on
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/105538
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