configure the keyboard for your macbook and ubuntu 12.04 (and 12.10)

2012-05-26

I love the new Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin. Unity - and the graphics drivers - have finally reached a stability that satisfies me and let me keep GNU/Linux as solo operating systems on my Macbook Pro 6,2.

What drives me crazy is the default keyboard mapping, surely not thought for who owns an Apple computer.

First, the Unity Launcher (a.k.a. Dash) default shortcut is the

Super

key (or Win key). This key corresponds to the

cmd

key on Apple keyboards. Under Mac OS X, the combination

cmd+space

opens Spotlight, while

cmd+c

,

cmd+v

are for Copy&Paste.; That is, the

cmd

key is a supercharged

ctrl

key.

I spent some time to search the best combinations to reproduce this behavior under Ubuntu. Here is what I managed to create:

• I swapped the left

  ctrl

and the left/right

cmd

keys. That is,

cmd

becomes

ctrl

and

ctrl

becomes

cmd

• After the first modification, it becomes unconvenient to open Dash with the

  ctrl

key. Therefore, I changed Unity Launcher key to

cmd+space

. This (sort of) emulates OS X behavior.

To implement the first tweak, create the file

~/.Xmodmap

with the following content:

remove control = Control_L
remove mod4 = Super_L Super_R
keysym Control_L = Super_L
keysym Super_L = Control_L
keysym Super_R = Control_L
add control = Control_L Control_R
add mod4 = Super_L Super_R

Logout and login again. Congratulations, you have the swapped keys. Ubuntu should already take care to load the file automatically.

It is important to not manually load the .Xmodmap file. It may result in a double application of the mappings, resulting in a re-swap of the keys.

To achieve the second tweak, install the package

compizconfig-settings-manager

. Open it using the

ccsm

command, or search for it in Dash. Find

Ubuntu Unity Plugin->Behavior->Key to show the launcher

and change it to

<primary>space

, using the Grab key combination button. It may be also shown as

<control><primary>space

.

You can now have a behavior similar to Mac OS X in Ubuntu 12.04. You can change the virtual desktop using

cmd+alt+arrow

. You can cut, copy, and paste using

cmd+x

,

cmd+c

, and

cmd+v

. You can open the Unity launcher with

cmd+x

.

I hope that this little how-to can help frustrated Apple users who want to embrace GNU/Linux freedom.

I do not use a commenting system anymore, but I would be glad to read your comments and feedback. Feel free to contact me.