Swap/Remap Ctrl and Alt keys #Update 64bit xkeycaps

[Young]

In the past I was able to use xkeycaps to swap the Ctrl and Alt keys. 
More of a Mac type layout which helps me a lot.

With a new machine and AMD64 version of Ubuntu, xkeycaps is very flaky, 
I can't even get it to scroll to the keyboard selection. Of course 
everything is different, so it could be something besides 64 bit causing 
the problem.

As a work around I was able to copy the .xmodmap files from my home 
folder on the old 32 bit machine to the new machine, log out, log in, 
pick the displayed choice, and it works fine. Sometimes I just get lucky.


Mark


Young wrote:
> Thanks Mario for the info on xkeycaps.
> 
> I have it working the way I want it to now.
> 
> Both Alt keys and Ctrl keys are swapped, so I can use the keys next to 
> the space bar, as if it were a Mac.
> 
> One thing that has changed is that you don't have to add it to a 
> startup/login script. If you restart after saving the change in 
> xkeycaps, when you log back in a window pops up asking what you want to 
> do with the .xmodmap file you've created. Just select the file, not the 
> backup, and from then on it runs at login. I'm left to wonder if it 
> could catch any additional changes made later. Maybe I should test that.
> 
> I don't know if Ubuntu is watching your home folder for new files, or if 
> something else triggered this. It seems to be usual in Ubuntu, for 
> programs and utilities to not tell you their name, nor give you a way to 
> find it.
> 
> Either way it was a big help to me since I've yet to learn how to create 
> and run startup scripts, and the google search for help wasn't encouraging.
> 
> Regarding xkeycaps still. There were a couple of things that left me 
> wondering.
> It shows a message saying you need to add a line to a login script to 
> contain:
> xmodmap~/.xmodmap-`uname-n`
> with a note that ` is a back quote.
> 
> First I don't know what ~ means, and there's no way I know of to google 
> that. From the context, and knowing where it saved the change file I'm 
> guessing that ~ means /home/username. Is that the case, and is it always so?
> 
> Second, what do the back quotes mean? Do they simply indicate that uname 
> should be changed to the correct users name? Would they be required as 
> part of the syntax? And why is there a -n inside the back quotes?
> 
> Third, figuring out which keyboard matches the one on your machine isn't 
> straight forward. The names don't match what you find in other places on 
> your system. The good thing is that the graphic display of the keyboard 
> changes for each, so you get a lot of help that way.
>