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FCITX, IBus, and XIM?
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- hwahyeon
I was setting up the Korean keyboard on Ubuntu and came across three options for keyboard input: FCITX, IBus, and XIM. What exactly are these?
First of all, these are frameworks used for keyboard input in Linux.
XIM
XIM has technological limitations because it mainly focuses on simple text input and doesn’t handle complex characters like Korean or Japanese well. It was designed for straightforward input, making it difficult to add new features or expand functionality. On the other hand, FCITX and IBus are designed with modularity in mind, so they are much easier to extend and enhance. This is why XIM is often used in legacy projects.
FCITX (Flexible Input Method Framework)
FCITX adopts a modular design, allowing for easy expansion through various plugins. So, these modules operate independently and can integrate with different input engines (e.g., fcitx-hangul for Korean, fcitx-mozc for Japanese).
GitHub
IBus (Intelligent Input Bus)
IBus employs a client-server model, where a central daemon interacts with applications through clients, while the Input Method Engine (IMEngine) functions as a plugin to support various languages.
GitHub