Hello,
I often change the keyboard layout since a while, I got into the habit of making X adopt a keymap according to the connected keyboard. To do that, you just have to put the right configuration on it. So on the same PC you can type in different ways, for example QWERTY on the laptop's keyboard AND Dvorak/Bepo/whetever ... at the same time on USB keyboard. Can be useful for pair programming.

Recently I switched to KDE and I can't do the same thing, even though X detects and configures the keyboard correctly:

13353.064 XINPUT: Adding extended input device "X-BOWS KNIGHT_PLUS Keyboard" (type: KEYBOARD, id 21)
13353.064 Option "xkb_rules" "evdev
13353.064 Option "xkb_model" "pc105
13353.064 Option "xkb_layout" "fr
13353.064 Option "xkb_variant" "bepo
13353.064 Option "xkb_options" "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"

In the corner of an Arch page it is mentioned that KDE overrides X for keyboard configuration.

So how to tell KDE to apply a specific keymap for a keyboard? Or else how to tell it not to override the X config?

Hi!
Very interesting idea. I have a few questions first: Do you use KDE with wayland or X11? Do both of you type at the same time in different windows/terminals? Or in the same editor window?

As a general idea without a solution: You could map the keys yourself, independend of X/Wayland and stuff using the uinput method, perhaps with the libevdev library for a simpler api. Thats what Plasma does, I think in KWin. But I do not know if the detcted keyboards are »merged« in Plasma.

As a quick possible solution you could try to use openbox instead of KWin and disable kglobalaccel in case it is independend from KWin.

Hi,
1/ I use X11
2/ We type on the same time in the same editor windows. It's possible to type on different editor windows but this requires multiseat configuration and it is no longer possible to share windows.

I would like to remain the least intrusive in modifying Plasma to do this. Otherwise I would switch completely to my old DE (XFCE)

I've had a short look with two keyboards connected. It does not appear in the input-device section and is silently mapped as the first one. So just wait for a KDE member to answer it. I'm not that deep in the KWin-stuff to provide a solution.