[Software] Install Chinese Pinyin on Debian 11.

[zhenyu]

Hello,
I want to install Chinese Pinyin with Fcitx5 on English Debian 11, so I do as https://wiki.debian.org/gnome-chinese-input instructs. However I still can't use Pinyin input method now.
Fcitx5 configuration is:

And my input setting is:

I still can't input Chinese character by Pinyin. What should I do further?

[arochester]

Your graphic seems to cover over some text which I cannot read.

Have you seen e.g. https://silentming.net/blog/2015/11/16/ ... sh-debian/ (a bit old but seems OK) ?

Have you also seen https://forums.debiancn.org/ ?

[pwzhangzz]

The info provided in Debian wiki is out of date. You should uninstall fcitx and install ibus-libpinyin instead:

sudo apt update && sudo apt purge fcitx* uim*

sudo apt install ibus-libpinyin

log out and log back in, then go to Setup and select intelligent pinyin (or libpinyin). I'm using Debian 12, the procedure in Debian 11 is a little bit different but I'm sure you will figure it out.

Once ibus-libpinyin is installed, you can use the ibus-tweaker gnome extension to adjust the font size in the candidate list. Works super great.

[pwzhangzz]

The info provided in Debian wiki is out of date. You should uninstall fcitx and install ibus-libpinyin instead

It is beyond my pay grade to try to discuss the technical merits of fcitx vis-a-vis ibus-libpinyin. However, if even I have problems getting fcitx to work, it probably should not be the default Chinese input method (in the live usb).

However, I must mention that one of the main advantages of ibus-libpinyin is its packager Gunnar Hjalmarsson. I don't know how good his Chinese is now, but when he started packaging ibus-libpinyin for Ubuntu/Debian, I don't think he could tell the difference between some of the even simplest Chinese characters. After he retired as a partner in one of the largest accounting firms in the world, Gunnar has been devoting himself transcending beyond language/national/technical barriers. Debian community helps this happen. And we benefited.

[zhenyu]

The info provided in Debian wiki is out of date. You should uninstall fcitx and install ibus-libpinyin instead

It is beyond my pay grade to try to discuss the technical merits of fcitx vis-a-vis ibus-libpinyin. However, if even I have problems getting fcitx to work, it probably should not be the default Chinese input method (in the live usb).

However, I must mention that one of the main advantages of ibus-libpinyin is its packager Gunnar Hjalmarsson. I don't know how good his Chinese is now, but when he started packaging ibus-libpinyin for Ubuntu/Debian, I don't think he could tell the difference between some of the even simplest Chinese characters. After he retired as a partner in one of the largest accounting firms in the world, Gunnar has been devoting himself transcending beyond language/national/technical barriers. Debian community helps this happen. And we benefited.

Thanks for your kindle reply. May I ask you two questions:

• Do your work for Debian and who pay you? I am just wondering why you said that "t is beyond my pay grade to try to discuss the technical merits of fcitx"

• Did you have problems when you get fcitx to work? My English is poor. I don't know if the sentence of However, if even I have problems getting fcitx to work is a suppose.

[pwzhangzz]

Do your work for Debian and who pay you? I am just wondering why you said that "t is beyond my pay grade to try to discuss the technical merits of fcitx"

• Did you have problems when you get fcitx to work? My English is poor. I don't know if the sentence of However, if even I have problems getting fcitx to work is a suppose.

I apologize. The phrase "beyond (above) my pay grade" is an American idiom; it means "I do not have enough knowledge" to make a competent comment. I forgot this is an international forum with members dispersed all over the world. Again I apologize.

Debian is a truly member-supported community. I am not paid by any corporation or entity that wants to support Debian. Actually I will start making donations to worthy Debian causes. Unlike Ubuntu, there is no corporate entity supporting Debian, if we the Debian users don't contribute, no one else will.

Although I am a Debian newbie, I have been using Ubuntu, which was derived from Debian, since Ubuntu 6.04. I am pretty sure that if I am willing to spend more time on fcitx5 I should be able to get it to work. However, my main goal of using Linux desktops is not for my own sake, but to try to promote its use by the general public. Ibus-libpinyin is an integral part of Gnome and is a much better candidate for inputting Chinese characters.

[pwzhangzz]

For whatever it's worth, I would like to point out that Fedora 37 is using ibus-libpinyin as its default Chinese input method. It also solves an important nuisance/bug when inputting traditional Chinese. This bug still exists in the Debian version and is quite significant, but can be resolved with a simple recompilation option.

However, the version of ibus-libpinyin in Debian Sid is newer (1.14) than in Fedora 37 (1.13). Again, I would like to express my gratitude to Gunnar for his diligent work.

[zhenyu]

Do your work for Debian and who pay you? I am just wondering why you said that "t is beyond my pay grade to try to discuss the technical merits of fcitx"

• Did you have problems when you get fcitx to work? My English is poor. I don't know if the sentence of However, if even I have problems getting fcitx to work is a suppose.

I apologize. The phrase "beyond (above) my pay grade" is an American idiom; it means "I do not have enough knowledge" to make a competent comment. I forgot this is an international forum with members dispersed all over the world. Again I apologize.

Debian is a truly member-supported community. I am not paid by any corporation or entity that wants to support Debian. Actually I will start making donations to worthy Debian causes. Unlike Ubuntu, there is no corporate entity supporting Debian, if we the Debian users don't contribute, no one else will.

Although I am a Debian newbie, I have been using Ubuntu, which was derived from Debian, since Ubuntu 6.04. I am pretty sure that if I am willing to spend more time on fcitx5 I should be able to get it to work. However, my main goal in using Linux desktops is not for my own sake, but to try to promote its use by the general public. Ibus-libpinyin is an integral part of Gnome and is a much better candidate for inputting Chinese characters.

Thanks for your explanation. You are right. It is my bad that my English is too poor. You can use any sentence you want, but if you can explain difficult ones to others, you are very nice. I hope fcitx5 can show Chinese or English state on the top of GNOME DE. Now even if I convert fcitx5 Chinese input method to English state, the status mark isn't changed. Thanks again.

[zhenyu]

For whatever it's worth, I would like to point out that Fedora 37 is using ibus-libpinyin as its default Chinese input method. It also solves an important nuisance/bug when inputting traditional Chinese. This bug still exists in the Debian version and is quite significant, but can be resolved with a simple recompilation option.

However, the version of ibus-libpinyin in Debian Sid is newer (1.14) than in Fedora 37 (1.13). Again, I would like to express my gratitude to Gunnar for his diligent work.

Is there a difference of Ibus on Debian version and Fedora version? I can't imagine that the older version is better than the new one. In my understanding, the newer one would better and the same version will work same no matter where it is installed. Thanks for your kindle explanation.

[debbiethekiwi]

I am a native English speaker who uses a very little Chinese. The wiki is out of date, it is maintained by volunteers, and there is a conflict between keeping old information for old systems still in use, and what we call the "bleeding edge" ...
I am running Debian 11.3 (5.10.140-1) and xfce 4.16. I installed fcitx using the Synaptic Package Manager, then following the fcitx site instructions, plus lots of confusing info on the web.

Points to note: in the fcitx Global Options window one of the default font size settings is 0, that must be increased to ~16;
I am using Sunpinyin, I don't know if it is better or worse than any other, it works for me;
fcitx will not change from my default English to pinyin if the cursor is not focus in a window which accepts text input.
After changing any config in fcitx you should then use its panel menu to restart fcitx

I have these packages installed relative to fcitx:

Code: Select all

$ dpkg-query -W *fcitx*
fcitx	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-bin	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-config-common	0.4.10-3
fcitx-config-gtk	0.4.10-3
fcitx-config-gtk2	
fcitx-data	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-frontend-all	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-frontend-gtk2	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-frontend-gtk3	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-frontend-qt5:amd64	1.2.5-1+b2
fcitx-module-dbus	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-module-kimpanel	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-module-lua	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-module-quickphrase-editor	
fcitx-module-x11	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-modules	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-modules-x11	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-sunpinyin:amd64	0.4.2-2+b1
fcitx-ui-classic	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx5-module-quickphrase-editor:amd64	1.2.5-1+b2
libfcitx-config4:amd64	1:4.2.9.8-3
libfcitx-core0:amd64	1:4.2.9.8-3
libfcitx-gclient1:amd64	1:4.2.9.8-3
libfcitx-qt5-1:amd64	1.2.5-1+b2
libfcitx-qt5-data	1.2.5-1
libfcitx-utils0:amd64	1:4.2.9.8-3

[zhenyu]

I am a native English speaker who uses a very little Chinese. The wiki is out of date, it is maintained by volunteers, and there is a conflict between keeping old information for old systems still in use, and what we call the "bleeding edge" ...
I am running Debian 11.3 (5.10.140-1) and xfce 4.16. I installed fcitx using the Synaptic Package Manager, then following the fcitx site instructions, plus lots of confusing info on the web.

Points to note: in the fcitx Global Options window one of the default font size settings is 0, that must be increased to ~16;
I am using Sunpinyin, I don't know if it is better or worse than any other, it works for me;
fcitx will not change from my default English to pinyin if the cursor is not focus in a window which accepts text input.
After changing any config in fcitx you should then use its panel menu to restart fcitx

I have these packages installed relative to fcitx:

Code: Select all

$ dpkg-query -W *fcitx*
fcitx	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-bin	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-config-common	0.4.10-3
fcitx-config-gtk	0.4.10-3
fcitx-config-gtk2	
fcitx-data	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-frontend-all	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-frontend-gtk2	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-frontend-gtk3	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-frontend-qt5:amd64	1.2.5-1+b2
fcitx-module-dbus	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-module-kimpanel	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-module-lua	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-module-quickphrase-editor	
fcitx-module-x11	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-modules	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-modules-x11	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx-sunpinyin:amd64	0.4.2-2+b1
fcitx-ui-classic	1:4.2.9.8-3
fcitx5-module-quickphrase-editor:amd64	1.2.5-1+b2
libfcitx-config4:amd64	1:4.2.9.8-3
libfcitx-core0:amd64	1:4.2.9.8-3
libfcitx-gclient1:amd64	1:4.2.9.8-3
libfcitx-qt5-1:amd64	1.2.5-1+b2
libfcitx-qt5-data	1.2.5-1
libfcitx-utils0:amd64	1:4.2.9.8-3

Thanks. I wil try this. Hope it works.