Bug 22666

Created attachment 27480 [details] [review]
Updated Bulgarian layouts

Please find attached a patch for an updated version of the Bulgarian keyboard file.

Some information about the keyboard layouts in Bulgaria (maybe unnecessary):

1. Currently there is only one standardized Bulgarian keyboard layout - BDS 5237-78 (BDS means "Bulgarian State Standard").

2. The so called phonetic layout became popular after 1980 when the mass-production of the Bulgarian clones of Apple ][ started.  These computers used phonetic Cyrillic keyboard layout (unchangeable) and they were produced in great quantities (up to 1994).

3. When the Bulgarian clones of IBM PC became popular (about 1989) they supported both the standard BDS layout and the slightly modified phonetic layout.  People who learned to use computers on the Apple ][ clones continued to use the phonetic layout.  Most programmers used the phonetic layout and many of the young people.  As a result the phonetic layout became much more popular than the standardized BDS.

4. Some years ago in a duscussion of a Bulgarian LUG it was noticed that 99% of the Bulgarian Linux users (at that time) used the phonetic layout.  Nevertheless, it was decided that in order to make the free software more user-friendly to new users, keyboard configuration programs should propose by default the BDS layout and the phonetic layout as an option.

5. MS Windows before Vista supported only BDS.  Bulgarians traditionally used add-on programs in order to add support for the phonetic layout.

6. Around 2005 a group in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences decided to develop a new version of the Bulgarian keyboard standard that includes the phonetic layout.  This new phonetic layout was included in Windows Vista.

7. Unfortunately their version of the phonetic layout changed the traditional positions of 6 letters.  The Bulgarian law requres public discussion of new State standards.  The opposition against the new phonetic layout was so prominent that the new standard was not accepted. Officialy it is in a state of re-examination but I have some doubts that a new standard will be accepted even in a modified form.

8. The group behind the new phonetic layout asked me to give them a XKB version of the new phonetic layout.  I didn't propose this new layout for inclusion in xkeyboard-config because didn't want to include in the Bulgarian keyboard file a layout that nobody uses.

9. But I was wrong. :) Windows Vista supported the new phonetic layout and this was enought for it to form some user-base.  Some users submitted a bug report in Ubuntu requesting support of the new phonetic layout and the people in Ubuntu were kind enough to transfer the request to you - https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=20301 As a result my file was included in xkeyboard-config without me knowing this.

The following summarizes the differences between the layouts in this bug report and the version that is currently in xkeyboard-config.

1. The new layouts define four keysyms per key.  The symbols in levels 3 and 4 were discussed in a Bulgarian LUG in 2007.

2. There is a new Latin layout - the same as the standard QWERTY layout but with additional symbols in levels 3 and 4. The layout is hidden in order not to confuse the users.

3. The name of the new phonetic layout is changed from "Bulgaria - Standard Phonetic" to "Bulgaria - New phonetic".  Reason: the name "Standard" is confusing. The new layout is not more standard than the old one and for most people Standard=Traditional.

4. The BDS layout is changed to follow the new proposed State standard.  These changes are good and minor and I think nobody needs the old BDS layout.

5. Similarly to this I updated the non-letter symbols in the traditional phonetic layout to be the same as the symbols in the new phonetic layout.  These changes affect only symbols that are not used while the keyboard is in Cyrillic mode so I think nobody will need the old variant of the traditional phonetic layout.  A developer of Microsoft told me that he will try to add in Windows 8 and maybe even in Windows 7 the traditional phonetic layout with the same changes as in this patch.

Anton Zinoviev