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I am in the progress of switching from Windows to Linux, but as I speak four languages frequently, I found a problem with switching between them.

On Windows, there is a "sub-language" feature (don't really know how is it named in English localization), which allows you to set up "groups" of languages. I have two groups, English and Czech + Ukrainian and russian. Switching between groups is bound to Alt + Shift, and switching between languages inside groups is bound to Ctrl + Shift.

I can't find such a feature in KDE Plasma. Spare Layouts is not what I am looking for, because I use all four languages frequently, and I don't want to use my mouse for switching between them.

So, is there such feature or any script/way to write some script to do this?

PerchunPak
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  • There's no such feature in the Linux distros I know. – ChanganAuto Jun 17 '23 at 22:00
  • @ChanganAuto do you know for which part of KDE I need to write a plugin for implementing this? – PerchunPak Jun 25 '23 at 08:46
  • Why exactly do you need the groups and why can't you simply set a cycle-all shortcut + one shortcut per layout? - Also, for Linux a more specific site is https://unix.stackexchange.com/, for Kubuntu https://askubuntu.com/ – cipricus Jul 16 '23 at 19:16
  • @cipricus I just got accustomed to this, and I don't want to switch to anything else, it's really comfortable – PerchunPak Jul 20 '23 at 21:48

2 Answers2

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I don't want to use my mouse for switching between them

You don't have to. See my 4-layouts setting:

enter image description here

The disabling of "spare layouts" has nothing to do with the mouse - it lets you cycle with one shortcut between more than 3 languages (in fact: "keyboard layouts"), which in the above setting can be done with Alt+Space.

But also, each layout can be accessed directly with a specific shortcut. In my setting: Meta+E for US English, Meta+F for French, Meta+R for Romanian (standard layout) and Meta+Alt+E for another English (dead keys) that allows me a different way of writing French and other characters.

You could in a similar way use Meta or other modifier and associate with R for Russian, U for Ukrainian, C for Czech and E for English — in case you prefer it to the one-shortcut cycle method. (I personally find the specific shortcuts better suited to more than 2 layouts).

(I don't see in what way the method you describe of using groups and switching between them and then between layouts within groups is more efficient than simply changing to the layout you want with just one shortcut.)

In order to see on screen what each layout provides you might be interested in this answer.

cipricus
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  • When I write something, I use 2 or 1 languages. For example, I use English + Czech when write something in Czech (English is for special symbols (;+-= etc.), as I am not familiar too well with Czech layout) or Ukrainian/russian + English if I need to use some English words inside my writing. – PerchunPak Jul 20 '23 at 21:51
  • I get it now. As there are no groups in Linux, closest thing I can imagine would be to "group" the 2 layouts in a more simple way, something like ctrl-1 for English and Ctrl-2 fot Czech etc. – cipricus Jul 26 '23 at 16:33
  • I already know that there is no such feature, so I want to implement it. But the question is where should I do this? – PerchunPak Jul 29 '23 at 12:44
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Doesn't Fcitx provide what you're looking for? I use it exclusively for japanese input, but AFAIK it has groups and whatnot, maybe it's what you need

ploni_almoni
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  • As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Aug 05 '23 at 11:12
  • Thank you! You are the first person, who suggested something with groups. I definitively will try it and write the result here. – PerchunPak Aug 28 '23 at 00:37