[xmonad] xmonad with emacs

[Steve Quezadas]

Hello,

I am using xmonad and so far I love it! However, there seems to be a
keybinding conflict (I think) with emacs. Control-space is the
"set-mark-command" option in emacs and it does not seem to work when
xmonad is present. The alternative keybind (Control-@) seems to work
though. When I take xmonad off, the keybind works again.

Not sure what is going on, I checked the FAQ and the maillist history
and no one seems to be having this problem which is strange since
emacs is a fairly common program

My config file is fairly straightforward:
import XMonad
import XMonad.Config.Gnome

main = xmonad gnomeConfig
{ modMask = mod4Mask -- Use Super instead of Alt
-- more changes
}


I am using Ubuntu 14.04.2 with xmonad version 0.11

Has anyone used xmonad with emacs before? I remapped the meta key to
the super key, thinking that this may cause the conflict but it didn't
fix it.

- Steve

[Brandon Allbery]

Post by Steve Quezadas
I am using xmonad and so far I love it! However, there seems to be a
keybinding conflict (I think) with emacs. Control-space is the
"set-mark-command" option in emacs and it does not seem to work when
though. When I take xmonad off, the keybind works again.

What's the other window manager / desktop environment? My guess is it loads
a different keymap which sets up control-space to produce NUL.

[Steve Quezadas]

Ok, I found out the conflict that I thought was attributable to xmonad.
As a reminder, "control-space" is a keybinding under emacs for the
set-mark-command feature which allows a user to select text. For some
reason, control-space wasn't working when emacs was under x-monad, but
was working when it was using Ubuntu unity.

Actually, the conflict over the keybinding happened with ibus. ibus
somehow maps control-space and prevents emacs from using that key
command. When I disabled ibus, the problem stopped. so it wasn't
xmonad's fault.

I am putting this on the maillist just in case other people have this
problem, they can look it up through keywords or whatever.

- Steve

PS I really LOVE x-monad. It's so much more efficient with larger
monitors. Keep up the good work guys!

Yes; I was looking for what you just told me, that you were using Unity
which presumably loads a keymap. (I have no idea which one, though.)
xmonad will be using the server default.
Unfortunately, control expansions are special-cased in both xkb and
xmodmap and can't be specified --- which makes me wonder how you managed
to lose it, unless the real problem is whatever terminal emulator you're
getting (given gnomeConfig, presumably gnome-terminal) was handling it
itself, and has different settings when not running in a Gnome 3
session. (You cannot use xmonad, or any window manager that is not a
Gnome Shell derivative (gnome-shell, or the Unity or Cinnamon forks
thereof), with Gnome 3. This is not something we have any control over.)
MATE's fork of gnome-terminal does the right thing under xmonad --- but
I am using a MATE session (since it's a fork of Gnome 2, it still allows
alternative window managers). I also don't see a way to control it from
its preferences or keyboard shortcuts. Gnome 3's gnome-terminal may
differ, though.

[Steve Quezadas]

Oh, sorry, I meant to reply to the list, not you individually! The
"reply to" command is not working right for some reason. I will check
when I get home to see if my windows manager is somehow mucking things up.

- Steve

Oh, I'm sorry, I assumed the `-- more changes' comment was a placeholder
for, well, more changes! If that's all you have, it's probably an issue
with something besides XMonad itself—Brandon's suggestion sounds
plausible. I'm not sure how to check that myself, I'm afraid.
Also, I don't know if you did this on purpose, but you only sent this
message to me, not to the whole list. Keeping the conversation on the
list proper could be useful because other people might be able to help.
(It's something it took me a while to get used to myself, and I'm still
not too certain on good list etiquette :P.)
Interesting. I've used Emacs with XMonad and never had this problem.
Are you running Emacs in X mode or in a terminal emulator? Also,
what
comment out all the parts of your config except for the modMask
setting.
I am using xmonad is x mode (I think, I'm basically using a
graphical user interface). My config is as stock as they come. This
import XMonad
import XMonad.Config.Gnome
main = xmonad gnomeConfig
{ modMask = mod4Mask -- Use Super instead of Alt
-- more changes
}
The only one line that's differnt is the modMask line which remaps
the "alt" key to "super" key for xmonad stuff.
- Steve