Installing Fcitx5-Rime Chinese Input Method on Ubuntu

Article Updates

• 2022-12-08: Using Fcitx4 and Sogou Input Method
• 2023-03-04: Updated to Fcitx5 and Rime Input Method

System Information

• Ubuntu 22.10 kinetic

Installing the Fcitx5 Input Method Framework

# Update the system
sudo apt update && apt upgrade -y
# Install the Fcitx5 input method framework
sudo apt install fcitx5 -y
# Install Fcitx5 framework and necessary components
sudo apt install fcitx5 fcitx5-frontend-qt5 fcitx5-frontend-gtk3 fcitx5-frontend-gtk2 fcitx5-chinese-addons
# Install the Fcitx-Rime input method
sudo apt install fcitx5-rime

Adding Chinese in System Settings

For English systems:

1. Settings -> Region & Language -> Manage Installed Languages -> Add/Remove Languages -> Chinese(Simplified) -> Apply & Apply System-Wide
2. On the bottom of the window, click the drop-down menu and select Fcitx5 as the Keyboard input method system and click Apply System-Wide button. Then click Close button.
3. Reboot the system (or logout and login again)
4. After reboot, click the keyboard icon on the top right corner of the screen, click the configure menu and uncheck the Only Show Current Language option.
5. Type rime in the search box and double click the Rime option to add it to the input method list.
6. Switch to Global options tab to set the hotkey to switch input method. (Ctrl + Left Shift)
7. Click the Apply button and close the window.

For Chinese systems:

1. Settings -> Region & Language -> Installed Languages -> Add/Remove Languages -> Simplified Chinese -> Apply -> Apply System-Wide
2. On the bottom of the window, click the drop-down menu, select Fcitx5 as the Keyboard input method system, then click the Apply System-Wide button. Then click the Close button.
3. Reboot the system (or logout and login again)
4. After reboot, click the keyboard icon on the top right corner of the screen, click the configure menu and uncheck the Only Show Current Language option.
5. Type rime in the search box and double click the Rime option to add it to the input method list.
6. Switch to Global options tab to set the hotkey to switch input method. (Ctrl + Left Shift)
7. Click the Apply button and close the window.

(Optional) Uninstall the ibus input method system

sudo apt purge ibus -y # Uninstall ibus
sudo apt autoremove -y # Remove dependencies

Setting the Input Schema

Option 1 After switching to the RIME input method, the default input mode is Traditional Chinese. You need to manually switch to Simplified Chinese. After typing any character, press the F4 key in the candidate menu, then select 明月拼音-简化字 to switch to Simplified Chinese.

Option 2 Click the input method icon on the top right corner of the screen, select the Rime input method, then click the input method icon again. In the second menu area, select 明月拼音 to expand all available input schemas. Select 明月拼音-简化字 to switch to Simplified Chinese.

Installing Additional Input Method Dictionaries

The repository below is a commonly used Rime input method Simplified Chinese dictionary, maintained by the author iDvel. Thanks to the author for their contribution.

cd ~/.local/share/fcitx5/rime
git clone https://github.com/iDvel/rime-ice && mv rime-ice/* . && rm -rf rime-ice

Then click the input method icon on the status bar, select the Rime input method, click the input method icon again, click Deploy to deploy the dictionary. After deployment is complete, select 雾淞拼音 as the input schema.

Modifying Input Method Configuration Files

cd ~/.local/share/fcitx5/rime
vim default.yaml

Note: After modification, you need to redeploy for the changes to take effect.

References

• Fcitx5 Official Documentation
• Rime Input Method