I would like to know if there is a function in linux which allows you to use the keyboard to input non-standard characters like in windows where you can press Alt+(4 digit # on num pad) providing characters like §©®²Öëß etc...

I am in Australia and we use a standard US keyboard map here.

PS i am currently using Kcharselect on KDE 3.2.2 (RHFC2) to input the aforementioned characters, i cannot locate the Euro Currency symbol.. any ideas??

You might experiment with the RIGHT "Alt" key plus all the other keys. That's how I got accent marks and a few other characters I need now and then. I have never seen any source that lists all the combinations, or even mentions that you can do this: I found out by accident.

Chances are you'll find a lot of the ones you want that way.

Sorry Jon

Using Fedora core, the right-alt doesn't work... It's a Mandrake idiosyncracy (maybe from it's European roots, I don't know) I have used MDK before and I figure you and I have observed the same phenomena, which is... even though you explicitly ask for a US keyboard map at install, it will still treat the Right-Alt Key as an "Alt Gr" key which everywhere except the US and AU is a 3rd "Shift" state allowing one key to represent 3 or 4 letters depending on which combo of Alt Gr and Shift are used, somehow MDK has used this as a default US keyboard map.

Aha... Sorry it doesn't work. I don't have a chance to compare my setup with another one, because all my (few) friends are stuck in Windows hell or using Macs. So I'm a loner.

You could always install the "International" keyboard but I tried that for about five minutes one day and went back to the so-called "U. S." one because with the International keyboard I had to do things like strike the apostrophe twice to get an apostrophe. Not good.

Surely there must be other users here who will know the answer to this...