Set compose key in Xfce

General help can be found on this article on Compose key. It didn't work for me however in Xfce.

The command

setxkbmap -option compose:lwin

works perfectly however. After this, I can for instance type the inverted question mark by pressing the left Windows key, releasing it, and then typing 2 normal question marks.

To make the command run at every startup, I did the following.

Make a file "setcomposekey.sh", put the following text in it:

#!/bin/sh
setxkbmap -option compose:lwin
echo "Compose key set to left Windows key."
sleep 2

and save the file where you can find it afterwards.

Then, in a terminal, navigate to the directory where you saved it, and type the command:

chmod +x ./setcomposekey.sh

to make it executable.

Now, go to Xfce "Applications Menu", choose "Settings" -> "Session and Startup", tab "Application Autostart", and add your little script to the programs to run at startup.

BTW, you have to do this for every user (login as that user and do the same routine).

Disable screen saver in Xfce

Regardless of my screensaver settings in Xfce, even if I disable it completely and power management with it, my screen still goes blank after 10 minutes. (I installed regular Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS and then Xfce, not Xubuntu).

Before messing with xorg.conf, first back it up:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.orig

A. What DIDN'T work

So, to try to resolve this, I tried the following, but it didn't work.

1) First NOT working solution

I found it in this post.
"This isn't the screensaver's issue. It is actually Xorg's default settings.
Add these lines in your xorg.conf (which is located in /etc/X11/xorg.conf and you must edit the file as superuser).

CODE: SELECT ALL

Section "ServerFlags"
   Option "BlankTime"   "0"
   Option "StandbyTime" "0"
   Option "SuspendTime" "0"
   Option "OffTime"     "0"
   Option "DontZap" "false"
EndSection


So, no luck with this. It didn't have any effect at all.

2) Second NOT WORKING solution

Then I tried adding a "NODPMS" option in xorg.conf (see this post). Didn't work either. That actually broke my system, had to boot from live USB, delete the modified xorg.conf and revert to a copy of my original xorg.conf (which luckily I had backed up, see top of this post).

3) Third NOT WORKING solution

Then I removed the gnome-screensaver package using synaptic. Didn't work. Then I removed also the xscreensaver package. Didn't work either, screen still blanked after 10 minutes.

4) Fourth NOT WORKING solution

(Before editing your /etc/profile, make sure to back it up, for instance by entering in a terminal the following command: sudo cp /etc/profile /etc/profile.orig. In case something goes wrong you can login from live CD or USB, or in recovery mode, and revert back by doing the opposite command from the command line interface: sudo cp /etc/profile.orig /etc/profile, then reboot).

Add to the end of /etc/profile (edit as superuser)

xset s 0 0
xset -dpms

Reboot to make changes take effect.

(See this post, this post and this post)

B. So what the # does work????

Caffeine!! (The program, NOT the substance).

How to free the Alt-key in Xfce for inkscape, Blender, etc.

As explained on the Inkscape FAQ:

• To enable in XFCE 4.4 or greater, in the Settings Manager > Window Manager Tweaks > Accessibility Tab, change "Key used to grab and move windows" to "none" or something else. Several other selections (such as "Meta") may still use the "Alt" key, however, so test it first.