Running Slackware-14.2 with Xfce4 on all hosts. I have one desktop (server/workstation) and three portables: Dell Latitude E5410 laptop, Lenovo ThinkPad x200 tablet, and Dell Latitude 2100 netbook. I log in to run level 3, then manually invoke startx if I'm not working on the console.

Because I work a lot with emacs I set many applications to use the same keyboard chords. Therefore, many years ago I wrote ~/.Xmodmap to swap the left Ctrl and CapsLock keys:

remove Lock = Caps_Lock
remove Control = Control_L
keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock
keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L
add Lock = Caps_Lock
add Control = Control_L
keysym Alt_L = Meta_L Alt_L

This has worked flawlessly on the desktop in ~/.bash_profile. However, it does not work on any of the portables. I've tried invoking it in ~/.xinitrc and other files based on web searches, yet have not found a working solution. I need to manually enter the command in each virtual terminal, sometimes twice, before it takes. This is for both user and root.

Is there a place, perhaps in an /etc/ config file where I can enter the command 'xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap' so that it is consistenly invoked for all applications when I start X? I've suffered with this for years and would really like to find a solution.

Why are you using Xmodmap (which sometimes disagrees with modern desktops) when you have a perfectly serviceable keyboard configuration tool in Xfce? This isn't my Xfce computer, so I can't check, but I'd be very surprised if it didn't include the option to swap LCtrl and CapsLock — so many people do that. You shouldn't have to define Alt as Meta, as they are normally synonyms. Of course I can't vouch for what Slackware might get up to!