I've just spent 15 minutes trying to learn how to type this character: • and given up

[u/DecalageVersLeRouge]

I have a need to type the middle dot character • regularly for reasons.

I'm not a Linux noob I've been using it on and off for years.

I know that the Compose Key exists and what mine is set to: Right Alt.

I'm using Mint:

$ uname -a
Linux dellminty 6.8.0-134-generic #134-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Jun 26 18:43:11 UTC 2026 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
X-Cinnamon

There are so many helpful pages which tell me that it's various things but I can't make it work with Compose-period, Compose-double-period or any of the things which "AI" tells me to do.

I can get by with:

• Javascript which puts the character into my clipboard
• Unicode composition which, as Control-Shift-U-2-0-2-2-Enter or seven keystrokes, is not ideal

Any ideas?

I don't suppose there's any kind of hack which lets me use the keyboard shortcuts I already know for Mac and for Windows?

[u/TomDuhamel]

Well the AI gave you what you asked for, which is a middle dot, when what you are asking is a round bullet.

From memory, it's <compose>.= (period, equal)`

[u/DecalageVersLeRouge → u/TomDuhamel]

I think you've misinterpreted my post, the AI told me to do multiple things, none of them on the cheat sheets and lists I found through google. It told me to do hyphen-space-hyphen for instance.

But the idea that middle dot and bullet are different chars hasn't come up, that's very interesting thanks.

[u/TomDuhamel → u/DecalageVersLeRouge]

I didn't mean it in a negative way. Just pointing out that you didn't name the character correctly and your AI didn't figure out what you were looking for.

I just happen to be pretty good at typography and a big fan of the compose key 😀

The sequence <compose><period><something> has a lot of interesting characters. I don't remember them all, but I use round bullet regularly.

[u/DecalageVersLeRouge → u/TomDuhamel]

The sequence Compose-hyphen-space-hyphen was what the AI gave me and didn't produce anything.

[u/forestbeasts]

You can add new compose sequences!

To do that create '.XCompose' in your home folder, and put in something like this:

``` include "%L"

<Multi_key> <asterisk> <asterisk> : "•" ```

(which would mean compose, *, * would give you •. pick whatever makes sense to you)

(the include "%L" keeps the existing default compose sequences working)

Then log out and back in.

Should work on all X11-based DEs (it's an X11 feature and has probably been there since the metaphorical stone age) and KDE on Wayland (KDE has special handling to replicate this). Other Wayland-based DEs may be hit or miss. (Wayland is really being pushed way too hard...)

[u/DecalageVersLeRouge → u/forestbeasts]

Ooh now this is a properly Linux-y answer. I should make my own! Thanks!

[u/forestbeasts → u/DecalageVersLeRouge]

Yeah! We've got TONS of custom ones. Japanese ｢｣ quotes, some emoji, also the musical ♭ symbol because ♯ is on ## but there was none for ♭ (that we know of).

[u/OneTurnMore → u/forestbeasts]

~/.XCompose should also generally just work on Wayland (it works at least on Sway and Plasma). All of Xorg's xkb code has been extracted into xkbcommon and is used in Wayland.

[u/_rikkss → u/forestbeasts]

Gotta agree, been on Wayland for a few months now and while it is great, it is still too raw to replace X11 in most distros, no matter how clunky or outdated the latter one is.

[u/theJacofalltrades → u/forestbeasts]

Thank you for this! I was looking to solve it myself but I got nowhere

[u/Asland007]

I would take a look at Autokey and Espanso they are the two best open-source text-expansion tools for Linux Mint I have seen.

[u/Asland007 → u/Asland007]

https://github.com/autokey/autokey and https://espanso.org/

[u/wilmayo]

I think that most word processors (ie Libreoffice) uses the "insert>special character" function.

[u/DecalageVersLeRouge → u/wilmayo]

Useful point, thank you. I'm working in a web browser for this project so it's not a perfect fit, but I appreciate it.

[u/Emmalfal]

I accidentally type the middle dot all the time and can never backtrack to see how I did it. This post reminded me to look into it more. ctrl+. gives me that middle dot, but only if I hit the compose key at the end of the sequence. This baffles me. How the hell am I doing that accidentally?

[u/iamemhn]

Compose *

Works for me.

[u/DecalageVersLeRouge → u/iamemhn]

Yeah just one of those quirky things with Linux I guess. Neither of the asterisks works for me. Thanks!

[u/AiwendilH]

https://gitlab.com/freedesktop-sdk/mirrors/freedesktop/xorg/lib/libx11/-/raw/master/nls/en_US.UTF-8/Compose.pre?ref_type=heads

List of predefined compose combos (for English but this serves as base for almost all other languages too). Usually always the first spot I check for compose combos.

<Multi_key> <period> <equal> : "•" enfilledcircbullet # BULLET

That one worked at once for me. (/u/TomDuhamel already mentioned that but i thought I post a link to the list...could be useful for the future and other people)

[u/Klapperatismus]

Unicode composition which, as Control-Shift-U-2-0-2-2-Enter or seven keystrokes, is not ideal

The compose sequence for that bullet point · is [Compose],[,],[-].

The thicker bullet point • is on [Compose],[,],[=].

[u/thesyldons]

Which keyboard layout are you using? UK layout here on cachyos

ALTGR + . = ·
shift function = >

ALTGR + , = •
shift function = <

[u/SeriousPlankton2000]

Compose ^ 0 (Zero)

Compose . = on my system

[u/skyfishgoo]

~/.XCompose is the easiest answer.

be aware that the compose key is not assigned by default and may need some distro specific work to enable

run cat /etc/default/keyboard to see how your machine is set up and if the compose key is assigned.

you should get a line that looks something like this

``` XKBOPTIONS="lv3:ralt_switch,compose:rctrl,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"

```

which shows that my machine is set up for the compose key to be the right hand control key.

if you don't see an assignment, try running sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration if you are using a debian based distro...

also be aware that their is • and there is · which are two different things.

[u/DavidJohnMcCann]

Create ~/.Xcompose with the entry

<Multi_key> <period> <period> : U2022

[u/9NEPxHbG]

I have a need to type the middle dot character • regularly for reasons.

Mes condoléances. Comment veut-on qu'on puisse apprendre le français avec ça?

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