Running Jaunty 9.04, fully updated as of Monday 18 May 2009.
The Gnome project's decision to implement an unannounced (to the end
user) separate compose key list shows mind-bogglingly poor judgment.
As Jan Minář notes, compose is a powerful mechanism, and quite simple
and easy to use as well. Gnome's alterations to this mechanism are
confusing and counterproductive, and the GTK compose key list is
incomplete in addition to being needlessly inconsistent with the
original X11 compose key lists.
For instance, Gnome for some unfathomable reason decided not to
implement a/A or o/O with a macron. Following the X11 compose sequences
for these, <Compose key> + - (hyphen) or _ (underscore) + a/A or o/O
instead produces the same output as <Compose key> + ~ (tilde) + a/A or
o/O. *Why* in the devil's briefcase did anyone think it makes sense to
remove functionality in order to duplicate an already-extant separate
key sequence? This oversight and apparent arrogance actually angers me.
This would not be such an issue if it were possible to edit the compose
key lists used by GTK -- but although the X11 lists can be edited, this
is apparently *not* possible for GTK:
"The ComposeKey sequences used by Gnome to enter special characters are
hard coded into the program."
(from https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GtkComposeTable)
*Why* hard-code these sequences? Being able to edit them is very
useful, and this is precisely why these sequences are editable for X11.
Yet Gnome seems to be following the same "we know better than you"
mentality evinced by the much-despised Microsoft.
-----
Setting GTK_IM_MODULE="xim" does *NOT* work usefully on my machine. It
does prevent the Gnome compose key sequences from working, but it also
means that my compose key settings in System -> Preferences -> Keyboard
-> Layout Options are also ignored. Due to my keyboard (a Dell
multimedia version, no right Win key, for instance), I therefore cannot
seem to find the X11 compose key, and setting the XkbOption as described
at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ComposeKey does not seem to work (I
do log out and restart the X server each time I change settings, so
that's not the issue). Consequently, I can either use Gnome's
incomplete and confusing compose key options, or none at all. This is
completely unacceptable.
-----
I thought the whole point of the freedesktop.org initiative was to
*unify* desktop functionality. Gnome's go-it-alone approach with how
the compose key works is incredibly frustrating. I will definitely be
posting to bugzilla.gnome.org.
--
Several compose key combinations don't work
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/74360
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu.
--
ubuntu-bugs mailing list
ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
