Ubuntu – How to achieve Mac-like use of CTRL and CMD keys on Apple Keyboard

apple-keyboardkeyboardkeyboard-layoutshortcut-keys

I'm very used to emacs-like ctrl+a to mean "home," and cmd+a to mean "select all." Similarly ctrl+e is "end", ctrl+d is "delete", ctrl+c does what I expect in Terminal, and probably a few more requisites I don't have on hand.

Of course Ubuntu is a little different. The ctrl key is functionally most paired with the cmd key, even though in physical keyboard layout the cmd key will bind to super.

So my first step was simply swapping cmd and ctrl by editing xkb since that restores 70% of the functionality I'm missing.

That mostly leaves begin/end/delete and related Mac-"control" functionality, but I don't know a good way to split the functionality or move some super obscure key over to ctrl to achieve this. I'm trying to find a cohesive strategy in general, but hacks are a step.

Ubuntu 14.04.

Best Answer

For fixing your terminal behaviour:

A straightforward way to achieve what you are trying to do, is to edit your home config files. For a bash terminal, you are looking to edit your readline config, which would be your .inputrc.

Open up a terminal
man readline This tells you most of your customization options. If you scroll to the bottom, it shows you how emacs mode is configured. More on that below.
gedit .inputrc This is what you want to edit. It is loaded whenever you log in, and will customize your readline (what bash uses for input) behaviour.

How I solved a similar issue.

I had to do something similar because I use Vi Mode in Bash:

set -o vi

I also use Colemak.
Subsequently, I use a highly customized version of Vim.

My .vimrc configuration does not affect vi Mode for bash (and ZSH for that matter).

So I had to create a custom one, and boy was it a lot of work:

http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~akiva/colemak.vim/trunk/view/head:/.inputrc

You can use my code there as a template to work off of. I have all the functions there. The ones I do not use are commented out. You can map your characters to two things:

########
# Copy #
########
# Copy to
"c":    vi-yank-to 
# fake copy line
"C":    "0c$$"

vi-yank-to is a builtin function
"0c$$" is a custom string (Notice the quotes around it) that basically simulates me pressing 0, c, $, $ in that order.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to invert Ctrl and Cmd on a Macbook Pro keyboard

I found out a workaround. The solution is to use the xmodmap utility and make it load a personal file with the correct mapping for the keyboard.

Open a terminal and create a new file in your /home folder, lets call it .Xmodmap
```
nano .Xmodmap
```
(I use nano as a nice text editor inside the console, you can use Gedit instead, install nano with the command sudo apt-get install nano if you'd like to test it, it's quite obvious to handle.)

Copy/paste the following content to the new file:

clear control
clear mod4

keycode 105 =
keycode 206 =

keycode 133 = Control_L NoSymbol Control_L
keycode 134 = Control_R NoSymbol Control_R
keycode 37 = Super_L NoSymbol Super_L

add control = Control_L
add control = Control_R
add mod4 = Super_L

Make the file executable.
```
chmod +x .Xmodmap
```
Test it now with the following command:
```
xmodmap .Xmodmap
```
The dash should now appear with Ctrl instead of CMD, hurra!
Now we want the file to be executed each time the system starts up. Open the Startup Applications utility and add a new entry, name it as you want and put the following comand in it:
```
/user/bin/xmodmap /home/YOURUSERNAME/.Xmodmap
```

Reboot, it should be ok. If it is not, you should add a .xinitrc file in your /Home folder, and add the command inside it. The .xinitrc file will be read by the system while loading the desktop environment.

Ubuntu – Make the CTRL and Super/CMD keys behave like on OS X

Here's how I've done it on my MAC book running Kubuntu :

Use xmodmap to swap command key and ctrl key globally.
a) Put the following in a file ~/.Xmodmap

clear control  
clear mod4  

keycode 105 =  
keycode 206 =  

keycode 133 = Control_L NoSymbol Control_L  
keycode 134 = Control_R NoSymbol Control_R  
keycode 37 = Super_L NoSymbol Super_L  

add control = Control_L  
add control = Control_R  
add mod4 = Super_L

b) Run the following command :

$ xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap

This will make all your application use Command + .. instead of ctrl + .. except terminal
Remember, your command key is now ctrl key

2. Modify shortcut keys for Terminal

a) In terminal application, go to "Configure Shortcuts"
b) Change the shortcuts for the following :

Cut - To 'Command + c '
Paste - To 'Command + v '
Interrupt - To 'Ctrl + c '
New Tab - To ' Command + t'
Close Tab - To 'Command + w'
Any other key your are particular about ..

3. Disable Meta key from invoking the app launcher [ kubuntu only ]

Add the following to ~/.config/kwinrc

[ModifierOnlyShortcuts]  
Meta=