My alphanumerical key for '1' and '!' (the very left of the number keys) broke. So, I edited, against the advice in some articles, the file /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us and remapped the '1' and '!' to the key left to it, the tilde (˜) key. The changes looked like that:
//key <TLDE> { [ grave, asciitilde ] };
key <TLDE> { [ 1, exclam ] };
This worked fine. Then I decided to assign the tilde symbols to the right shift key, because I never use it. The file /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us doesn't contain the right shift key, so after reading on the internet I decided to alter the file /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/pc and did the following changes
//key <RTSH> { [ Shift_R ] };
key <RTSH> { [ grave, asciitilde ] };
So, I did just an outcomment and copy-paste of the command from the first file. Funnily enough, the second change works, but only in some circumstances. E.g. it works on the log-in screen, when I need to type my password. But after I log-in the right shift key is back to its original functionality. Also, when I try to type the grave sign by pressing left shift + right shift (on a standard US keyboard you get the grave by shift + tilde) I toggle between my different keyboard layouts, instead of writing a grave.
What's wrong? Why do I find in other articles the recommendation not to alter the /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us or pc files? And how can I assign to my right shift key the symbols grave, asciitilde? Also, how can I make this change of the right shift key also be valid for my other keyboard layouts (e.g. German layout, Bulgarian layout a.s.o.). Thanks!
