The laptop I am currently using for my linux transition is an old one I brought with me from Ireland. This means that it has a "UK English" keyboard layout and not a US layout.

Now I did specify the "UK English" layout when I installed slackware but KDE does not seem it care about what is specified at the initlevel 3. Instead it goes ahead and switches back to "US English" when it starts.

Changing the keyboard layout in KDE

To get KDE to use the correct layout for my keyboard was not immediately obvious as it is a bit hidden. The setting to select the layout is located here:

When you click the "configure layouts" button (it doesn't immediately look like a button) you add the desired new layout, then move it up and remove the old layout. Click apply and its sorted.

The small things count

Now I know its a small niggle but surely KDE could be made to look at the default keyboard layout set in the initrd when its first run.

Yes KDE has come a long long way over the years but these little usability bugs should not still be cropping up. First impressions count and there are actually other countries besides America (with other language keyboards) who also would like to use linux.