96 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
96 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: How I set up ひらがな input on my laptop
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description: I3wm makes everything 10x harder than it should be
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date: 2019-08-12
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tags:
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- languages
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- walkthrough
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- linux
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aliases:
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- /blog/2019/08/12/setting-up-ja
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- /blog/setting-up-ja
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draft: false
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---
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I am currently working with [Hiragana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana), [Katakana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana), and, [Kanji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji) in some projects, and needed a more reliable way to write than running some [romaji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Japanese) through an online translator. So, this post will detail what I did to enable native inputs on my laptop. This guide is specifically for [i3wm](https://i3wm.org/), because it does not obey system settings for languages and inputs.
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## Adding font support to Linux
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Firstly, we need fonts. Depending on your system, these may already be installed. For Japanese, I only used `vlgothic`, so here in the package for it:
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```
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sudo apt install fonts-vlgothic
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```
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## Language support
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Im not sure if this matters, but I have seen other people do it, so why not be safe?
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I am currently running a stock Ubuntu [18.04](https://releases.ubuntu.com/18.04.5/) base, which means that everything is pre-configured for Gnome. To set language support in Gnome, pull up the settings panel:
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```bash
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# This line fixes some compatibility issues between
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# Gnome and I3 when launching the settings menu.
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# I recommend aliasing it.
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env XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME gnome-control-center
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```
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Next, go to *Settings > Language and Region > Input Sources*, and click on *Manage Installed Languages*.
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This will bring up a window where you can select a new language to install. From here, I clicked on *Install / Remove Language*.
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In this list, I just selected the languages I wanted (English and Japanese), and applied my changes. You may be asked to enter your password while installing the new languages. Once installation is complete, log out, and in again.
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With the new language support installed, return to the *Input Sources* settings, and press the `+` button to add a new language. From here, search the language you want (it may be under *Other*) and select it. For Japanese, select the `mozc` variant.
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Gnome's language settings are now configured. If you are using Gnome (not I3), you can stop here.
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## Configuring ibus
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Don't get me wrong, I love I3wm, but sometimes it's configurability drives me crazy.
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After searching through various forums and wikis looking for an elegant way to switch languages in I3, I found a link to an [ArchWiki page](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/IBus) at the bottom of a mailing list (I blame Google for not showing this sooner). It turns out that a program called `ibus` is exactly what I needed. Here is how to set it up:
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Remember `mozc` from above? If you are not using it, this package may not work. Search for the appropriate `ibus-` package for your selected language(s).
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```bash
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# Install ibus-mozc for Japanese (mozc)
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sudo apt install ibus-mozc
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```
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Now that `ibus` is installed, run the setup script:
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```bash
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ibus-setup
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```
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From here, set your shortcut to something not used by I3 (I chose `CTRL+Shift+Space`, but most people prefer `Alt+Space`), and enable the system tray icon.
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Now, go to the *Input Method* settings.
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From here, press the `+`, and add your language(s).
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## Configuring .profile
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According to the Wiki page, I needed to add the following to my `~/.profile`:
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```bash
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# Language support
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export GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus
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export XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus
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export QT_IM_MODULE=ibus
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ibus-daemon -d -x
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```
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It turns out that this [causes issues with some browsers](https://github.com/ibus/ibus/issues/2020), so I actually put *this* in my `~/.profile` instead:
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```bash
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# Language support
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export GTK_IM_MODULE=xim
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export XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus
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export QT_IM_MODULE=xim
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ibus-daemon -drx
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```
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Now, log out and in again to let ibus properly start again, and there should now be a new applet in your bar for language settings.
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## Workflow
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`ibus` runs in the background and will show an indication of your selected language upon pressing the keyboard shortcut set in the [setup tool](#configuring-ibus). For languages like Japanese, where it's writing systems do not use the English / Latin-based alphabets, `ibus` will automatically convert your words as you type (this behavior will be different from language to language).
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