[Bug 56912] Re: Impossible to configure more the 4 keyboard layouts

[Aigars Mahinovs]

I still have not found a good enough reasoning behind having keyboard
layouts being equal with keyboard groups. Switching over the whole
keyboard configuration when the input langage changes seems to be the
most flexible approach to the situation. Some languages could have only
one keyboard group, while others could use up to 4 groups if they desire
so. The only problem that needs to be solved for that is a way to link
user space keyboard switcher application to the X server (as an X
protocol extension, probably) so that this keyboard switcher can elect
to receive keyboard combinations to switch languages. A more efficient
way of switching the keyboard settings of an X server could be
implemented in the same extension. For example, the keyboard switcher
could either feed X sever with a precompiled keyboard layout or ask it
to switch to a previosely used layout from the X servers cache.

There are multiple input method frameworks out there (SCIM for example)
that have to extend X keyboard layouts way beyond the protocol to make
thier languages work as the users expect.

It would be very nice if developers of these frameworks could come
together and forge an official replacement of xkb with a new X
extension, api and ui parts that would implement all needed features for
all languages and would not have any arbitrary limits.

-- 
Impossible to configure more the 4 keyboard layouts
https://launchpad.net/bugs/56912