http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dccdrjqk_3gx3bq5f9

Updates
2009-05-11: Fixed Polytonic instructions; AltGr+] is for ypogegrammeni (instead of the wrong AltGr+}). (Thanks Christos Nouskas)
2009-05-11: Fixed Polytonic instructions; Psili and Daseia require AltGr+: and AltGr+” respectively (not vice versa). (Thanks Christos Nouskas)

Writing Greek, Greek Polytonic (Ancient Greek) on Linux (X.Org 1.6+)

Summary

In Linux distributions that first appear from spring 2009, it is possible to write Greek and Greek Polytonic (Ancient Greek) simply by adding the Greek keyboard layout. In this document we show in detail how to add the Greek keyboard layout and how to write in Greek. In previous versions of distributions, one had to enable a specialised Greek Polytonic layout, which was awkward to use.

Adding the Greek layout

We show how to add the Greek keyboard layout in GNOME. Instructions for KDE, XFCE and other environments are very much welcome.

1. Right-Click on the panel and select Add to Panel…

2. From the list of applets, select Keyboard Indicator and click on Add. Then, click on Close.

3. On my system, the default layout GBr (Great Britain) is shown. In your case you might see US, or something similar (such as Fr, Es or De).

4. Right-click on the layout name (on GBr in my case) so that you get the Keyboard Preferences option, and open it.

5. These are the default settings when you install your distribution. In my case, the default is Great Britain. Notice the + button. This button allows to add additional layouts. Click on +.

6. Select Greece for both Country and Variant. This is the new default layout that includes support for Greek, Greek Polytonic and Ancient Greek characters. Finally, click on Add.

7. The new layout is enabled. We did not finish yet; we need to configure the keyboard shortcut to switch between our native layout and Greek. The default keyboard shortcut is Alt+AltGr, which many users may not find convenient. In addition, it may not even work in some cases due to a bug in the X.Org. We click on Other Options… in order to configure the keyboard shortcut.

8. Under the heading Layout switching, locate and enable the option Alt+Shift change layout. Untick any other option. I think that Alt+Shift is one of the most common shortcuts for switching layouts. (My personal preference however is Both Shift keys together change layout). Then, click on Close.

9. Notice the two layouts. In the Type to test settings you can test both Greek and your original layout. Use the shortcut to switch between layouts. You can also switch by simply clicking on the Keyboard Indicator applet. Finally click on Close.

New basic Greek layout

The following table shows how to write modern Greek. The subsequent table shows how to write additional characters for Greek Polytonic.

Table 1 How to type modern Greek

Table 2 How to type Greek Polytonic

Note: You can stack together multiple dead keys in order to produce any allowed combination (such as ᾧ).

Table 3 How to type other Ancient characters

Available Greek Polytonic fonts

Most Linux distributions come with Greek Polytonic fonts which allows to start working as soon as you enable the Greek keyboard layout. If you wish to add additional Greek Polytonic fonts, please select a Unicode font.

There is an issue with OpenType fonts and OpenOffice.org. If you encounter a problem, it is recommended to use the default fonts of your distribution (such as DejaVu, shipped by default in Ubuntu Linux; works great with OpenOffice.org).

If you would like to explore additional polytonic fonts, we suggest to try the fonts produced by the Greek Font Society. Your distribution probably has those fonts in the repositories, thus you simply need to open your package manager and install. For Ubuntu, the packages are

• ttf-gfs-artemisia – Greek font (Times Greek-like)
• ttf-gfs-baskerville – Ancient Greek font revival
• ttf-gfs-bodoni-classic – Smart Greek typeface revival
• ttf-gfs-complutum – ancient Greek font revival from the University of Alcalá, Spain
• ttf-gfs-didot-classic – Greek font family (Classic Didot revival)
• ttf-gfs-gazis – ancient Greek font (Byzantine cursive hand style)
• ttf-gfs-neohellenic – new Greek font family with matching Latin
• ttf-gfs-solomos – ancient Greek oblique font
• ttf-gfs-theokritos – decorative Greek font

The default font in Fedora, Liberation, does not include Greek Polytonic support. If you would like to help, please see the following bug report https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=473842

Technical information

The current Greek keyboard layout is located at

http://gitweb.freedesktop.org/?p=xkeyboard-config.git;a=blob;f=symbols/gr

This is the upstream location of the layout.

The Greek layout file in your Linux installation is at /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/gr

Contact

The author of this document is Simos Xenitellis <simos.lists@googlemail.com>.
See blog posts on Greek Polytonic at
http://simos.info/blog/archives/category/i18n/polytonic

Thanks

I would like to thank the following contributors for their work on the Greek keyboard layout (since the first version) Βασίλης Βασαΐτης, Αλέξανδρος Διαμαντίδης, and Κωνσταντίνος Πιστιόλης. If your name is not listed, feel free to contact me.