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Hi,
Would it be possible to load the language, local time and keyboard, selected from the Labtix / Antix screen into the Mint installation?
It would simplify a bit the tasks that we have to do to set the configuration.
On the other hand, it would help for the default configuration of the guest user. I've checked and, every time I start a session as guest the configuration is set to Deutsch, so I have to add the Spanish keyboard.
It's just an idea, I don't know if it's difficult to implement.
Best Regards
Komentarze
Dear Josep,
Dear Josep,
which image are you referring at? The ES_BASIC and CAT_BASIC image should both be set to the corresponding language and keyboard for both users labdoo and student,.
BR
Ralf
Dear Ralf,
Dear Ralf,
I think I've misguided you with my explanation of the subject. My concern is about the keyboard, not the language.
I've been sanitizing mostly with the English image, but I've made also some in French and Spanish. In any of these installations, the language, keyboard and local time that I select in the boot step is the one I'm going to set in the computer.
When the sanitation ends, the default language is the one that I've chosen, the right one, but the keyboard is always Deutsch. That is what I was trying to explain. It's easy to modify for the labdoo and student user, but it is not possible for the guest user, the default keyboard will always be the Deutsch and there are not four keyboards to select, just one.
Sorry for having cause you an unjustified concern, sometimes I mix up the things when writing in English.
Best regards
Josep
Hi Josep,
Hi Josep,
I understand. But since several Ubuntu releases (20.04., 22.04, 24.04 etc.) and many years there are always the 4 most common keyboard layouts preset in the images for cloning within the German, English and French images. See e.g. for Linux Mint 22 / Ubuntu 24.04 LTS at ca.minute 5:00 in this video tutorial https://youtu.be/5RtxeQ1Y0dU?list=PLtGfy5_i_VB47sCYY62La1f7hlt2cN-tx.
So since years for user labdoo and student there can be multiple keyboard layout selected from the widget in the menu bar.
The Catalan (CAT) and Spanish (ES) images were adapted to your local need. As we do not deliver so many laptops from Germany to Spanish speaking countries it was agreed as an exception to preset CAT or ES keyboard layout as standard in the CAT / ES images.
To change the system keyboard you need to use the terminal sudo nano /etc/default/keyboard. For reason unknown there was a page in the English wiki for technical helpers, explaining it in details. But now I was only able to find the German wiki page online https://platform.labdoo.org/de/content/anpassen-l%C3%A4nderspezifische-a....
Why is the system keyboard layout in most images set to German?
This has to do with our project "history". Years ago cloning images and using Labtix was introduced by Labdoo Germany. It was offered all other Labdoo chapter, but nobody was interested. Labdoo Switzerland was and is using PXE and a specific, Swiss image, which ist not public. Labdoo Spain and others preferred to install a rudimentary Ubuntu with only very few additional software and content. This changed during the last years. Since the beginning of cloning all images on the FTP server are maintained by Labdoo team Germany, as only Labdoo Germany made "our" images public on FTP server. So when you talk about e.g. the English EN_Basic image, it is the EN images from Germany for German helpers for our own (local) use. Because of that the German keyboard is preset as standard. The CAT/ES keyboard exception see above.
Our team in Germany is always open for improvements, if there are any suggestions. But we need a detailed description, what is suggested and what is wanted to be changed.
One idea, which would take workload from the image team, was to have only one generic image. And then add languages, keyboard layout by scripts. Tests for 22.04 LTS were not positive, so we stayed with the images in DE, EN, ES, FR, CAT and UK. But we will keep on working on new concepts to make work easier for all. We will keep Labdoo community updated.
Hope this will answer your question.
Thank you.
BR,
Ralf
Dear Ralf,
Dear Ralf,
Thank you for your kind answer.
My question was not related at all to Spanish or Catalan languages or keyboards.
It's not that I'm worried about a Spanish or Catalan user, The users (no matter their language) receive a Spanish, French, German computer, and they need to select the right keyboard language in order to use it. This step is easily achieved if the user is Labdoo or Student, via the menu in the task-bar where they will find four useful choices at hand.
I thought it would be nice that guest users (I insist guest users) didn't need to search and select the specific keyboard every time they start a session or, at least, that they had the same options as the other users.
Anyway, I can see now that I'm very bad at communicating my ideas in English, so I'll leave it at this point.
Again thank you for your time and suggestions
BR
Josep M
Hi Josep,
Hi Josep,
sorry for the late answer but I was a little busy. The problem with the "Guest"-user is that he is not a common user that was created by the administrator of the system. The "Guest"- user will be newly created every time the account "Guest" is used for login. And he is not allowed to change anything in the system. Everything he saves or creates during a session will be lost when he logs out.
About the keyboard layouts:
- as Ralf suggested change /etc/default/keyboard to the wanted layout. But be careful: if the layout is too "exotic" it could be a problem to type the needed passwords into the logins password field !
- change the keyboards layout in the login-screen before the guest session is started
- in the "Guest" account open a terminal and use "setxkbmap es" to set the layout temporarily
- edit /etc/skel/.bashrc ( hidden file, use "Strg" + "h" to make it visible ) and add the line "setxkbmap es" at the end. /etc/skel/ is the folder where the preferences for new users ( and "Guest" always is a new user ! ) can be made. This changes only the keyboard layout inside the "Guest" account.
"setxkbmap [country]" is the command to change keyboard layouts in the terminal.
Which solution you choose, it will only affect the keyboards layouts, not the language of the desktop environment and the programs.
Maybe the cleanest solution would be to create a new user and give ( or not giving ) him the rights he needs. In that way you can localize the users preference to your needs. I guess that is what the user student was originally meant for. Feel free to make an own image with clonezilla and clone it to other devices. The needed programs are all within labtix.
After struggling now for years with Linux and other OSs I know that often there is no simple solution for a simple problem like this one.
Best regards from Germany
thomsen
p.s.: I guess the communication problem is on both sides, because we are no native english speakers. So there are a lot of reasons for missunderstangings, but we will do our best :-))
Dear Thomsen,
Dear Thomsen,
First, thank you for your kind and detailed answer.
I'm not an experimented Linux programmer and, maybe because of that, I thought it would be easy to ask the person that is sanitizing what is the computer's keyboard during the process of image installation (like the script does to set the computer name, for instance).
Then the script could pass the obtained information to Linux Mint and it would be the default keyboard for all users, including the guest.
I had imagined a situation where several users are sharing the same machine. I don't think it's unusual, given the ratio of students / computers in most of the schools. If these users are children, perhaps the selection of the keyboard would be a complicated every time they open session.
Another solution is creating a number of users, as you suggest, but, then, the computers are assigned to a specific group of children. Maybe the administrator would prefer to make the students open session as guests in a random machine and keep their files in an external personal drive.
So, you see, I had an elaborated thought about the application of the guest user in the machines that we deliver to the schools.
Not that I want to install any special keyboard or else, just a general solution (I think) for all the computers no matter the keyboard that comes installed.
Best Regards from Catalonia
Josep M