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IBus (Intelligent Input Bus) is an open source input framework for Linux and Unix.

Installation

USE flags

USE flags for app-i18n/ibus Intelligent Input Bus for Linux / Unix OS

X	Add support for X11
appindicator	Build in support for notifications using the libindicate or libappindicator plugin
emoji	Enable support for Emoji
gtk2	Enable the GTK-2 input method module
gtk3	Enable the GTK-3 input method module
gtk4	Enable the GTK-4 input method module
gui	Enable support for a graphical user interface
introspection	Add support for GObject based introspection
libnotify	Enable desktop notification support
nls	Add Native Language Support (using gettextGNU locale utilities)
python	Add optional support/bindings for the Python language
systemd	Enable use of systemd-specific libraries and features like socket activation or session tracking
test	Enable dependencies and/or preparations necessary to run tests (usually controlled by FEATURES=test but can be toggled independently)
unicode	Enable support for Unicode choice
vala	Enable bindings for dev-lang/vala
wayland	Enable dev-libs/wayland backend

Data provided by the Gentoo Package Database · Last update: 2023-03-25 00:27 More information about USE flags

Emerge

As well as the basic IBus framework, one or more engines should be installed. For example:

root #emerge --ask app-i18n/ibus ibus-libpinyin

KDE

For IBus to work with Qt 5 / KDE 5 / Plasma, USE=ibus needs to be set on at least dev-qt/qtgui and kde-plasma/plasma-desktop:

FILE /etc/portage/package.use/ibus

dev-qt/qtgui ibus
kde-plasma/plasma-desktop ibus

And those packages rebuilt to reflect that change:

root #emerge --ask --oneshot --newuse dev-qt/qtgui kde-plasma/plasma-desktop

If Ibus doesn't work with KDE Gear/ KDE Applications, add the following in the /etc/environment file:

FILE /etc/environment

GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus
QT_IM_MODULE=ibus
XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus

Configuration

Have a look at the eix output for more available engines:

user $eix -c -S engine app-i18n/ibus

For graphical toolkit integration, app-i18n/ibus offers gtk (this refers to gtk+:2) and gtk3 flags.

The app-i18n/im-chooser package can be helpful for selecting the preferred input method.

If nothing starts (no ibus daemon) when a user logs in, put the following in the ~/.bashrc or ~/.xinitrc file then reboot session:

FILE ~/.bashrc or ~/.xinitrc

export XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus
export GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus
export QT_IM_MODULE=ibus

# Use `xim` in case some Electron apps (like Chromium) refuse to work with IBus
# export GTK_IM_MODULE=xim
# export QT_IM_MODULE=xim

ibus-daemon -drx

The installation can be finely tuned by running:

user $ibus-setup

ibus-setup can be used to set the preferred input methods, the system keyboard, or to add an icon in the taskbar.

Note
When using GNOME, type "ibus" in the search bar and launch "ibus-preferences"

Tip
The Input Method Panel widget in KDE may provide a better integrated experience with IBus on KDE. In 64-bit architectures, to launch IBus with Input Method Panel, first enable the widget and then run:

user $ibus-daemon -drx --panel=/usr/lib64/libexec/kimpanel-ibus-panel

The command-line ibus utility may also be used, in place of ibus-setup:

user $ibus list-engine

user $ibus engine m17n:t:unicode # For example

Warning
Compose key will stop working when ibus engine is not xkb:*

To inform Qt ibus is now the input method, run:

user $qtconfig

See also

• How to read and write in Japanese — how to read and write in Japanese on a non-Japanese system.
• How_to_read_and_write_in_Chinese — how to read and write in Chinese on a non-Chinese system.
• Ibus-libpinyin — a Chinese input engine