Mostly I don't post technical stuff on my blog, but I want to post this because it took a lot of googling and toubleshooting to solve the problem.
As mentioned in yesterday's post, for reasons having to do with a recent computer crash, I decided to give a try at using Linux again. I downloaded Ubuntu 16.04 and upgraded the never-used dual boot on my system, because my computer is currently USB-less, which has in turn left me mouseless. Linux offers more options for dealing with a mouseless computer, at least as a temporary stand-in until I can decide what kind of replacement or repair to do.
The reason I gave up on Linux before was because, as bad as I am at Korean, I still view having the ability to type in Korean on my home computer as an absolute necessity – a perusal of my blog will show why: I like to post my efforts at learning Korean, aphorisms, etc.
Ubuntu Linux (and other versions that I flirted with) has (had?) documented issues with keyboard internationalization. I had decided it was beyond my limited skills to deal with it. I couldn't get the "hangul toggle" to work: that is the keyboard button on Korean keyboards that lets users switch between ASCII (Roman alphabet) typing and hangul (Korean alphabet) typing.
This time, under 16.04, I gave it another try. I did some googling to try to find if someone had found and documented a solution.
I found this page. It's in Korean, but the relevant Linux commands are there, and I could piece together the steps required to get things to work.
I followed the steps, and after a reboot (which had some frustrating, unrelated issues related to the weird way the Ubuntu-installed GRUB loader interacts with a Korean-speaking BIOS), the keyboard entry works!
After this, I also found this English-language discussion of a slightly different method, which someone can be free to try as well.
And now I can say, from this Linux window: 문재를 해결했습니다!
[daily log: walking, 7km]