I think this is useless. Network connectivity is really a thing that is common for all users. Layout choice is the personal thing.

Sergey, unless you are using a remote connection, the keyboard is the same for every user. My wife and I use the same keyboard on the same computer, we don't have a keyboard for each one. The same for the computers at my work, no one brings keyboards from home. The keyboard layout is thus the same for every user in that computer.

This can be important, in example, when a company is migrating to GNU/Linux. Imagine how frustrated users/employees will few when they discover their keyboards are not working as expected, and each one will have to find out how to fix the keyboard layout.

Please reconsider that WONTFIX.

> the keyboard is the same for every user.
The model - perhaps you are right. But these days all models are based on evdev, so there is no real difference, it is mostly cosmetic thing.

The layouts - quite often are different, on the same system. People using the same computer can be of different nations. Or prefer different variants. Same about options. I think it is wrong to give admin power to override those things. If admin wants to be really-really harsh, he can create readonly gconf entries, but I would consider that as extreme unfriendliness. There are thing which are personal (even in corporate environment!). Toolkit/icon themes. Fonts. Background. Keyboard layout/options.

Actually, ubuntu has "Apply system-wide" button - but it cannot stop user from having his own configuration, overriding system config. So IMHO that button is unnecessary and generally useless.

Sergey, I always thought one of GNOME's strengths was sensible defaults. I believe it would be pretty hard for GNOME to guess the preferred keyboard layout, so I think a user-defined system-wise default should be a sensible approach.

I wasn't talking about enforcing keyboard layouts on other users. I was thinking that, in places where everybody uses the same keyboard layout in the same computer (which is the case of most workplaces and homes, at least in Brazil), if root sets the keyboard layout on X, users don't have to set by themselves in GNOME (but can, if they want to). And I was hoping that GNOME could either provide a GUI to make that setting in X, or maybe add an intermediary layer of GNOME-specific system-wide default, overrideable by users.

> so I think a user-defined system-wise default should be a sensible
approach
Generally, yes. That's why distros (like ubuntu) provide distro-specific "Apply system-wide" button. But that is default - that means, if user already chosen some layout(s), the config is not going to be changed if another user (admin) changes the default config.

I do not know what would be the right way to store system-wide setting. X itself does not provide that feature (on cross-platform basis - working in Xorg, Xsun and whatever X servers are around there). And GNOME does not have system-level gconf, unfortunately.

Creating some special system-level daemon (listening on dbus or smth) just for that purpose would be massive overkill, don't you think?

How did Ubuntu implement this user-defined system-wise default?

Have no slightest idea. You can "apt-get source gnome-control-center" and see for yourself:) I suspect it is distro-specific.

Please remember I am a user, not a developer. I barely can write a shell script or a Python script. Could you please take a took by yourself, or get in touch with the corresponding Ubuntu maintainer?

They invoke distro-specific DBUS service com.ubuntu.SystemService, method set_keyboard. Does that answer your question?

Unfortunately, yes.