IBM T42p + Linux + CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE = BAD!

One of the very WORST features in Linux, at least for me and my IBM ThinkPad T42p, is the feature that kills X11 when you press the CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE keys simultaneously. The problem is that CTRL+BACKSPACE is a very common keystroke I use when editing source code and other documents (for those who may not know, this deletes the entire word to the left of your cursor). This particular laptop has the CTRL and ALT keys right next to each other.

Every time I re-install my laptop with an updated Linux distribution I forget or get lazy about disabling this "feature." Sure enough, I end up losing a bunch of work that I hadn't saved. CTRL+BACKSPACE ... KABOOM! HUH? CRAP! CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE!!!!! GRRRR!!!

If not for anyone else, this blog entry is a place where I will ever return to see how to disable this "feature" so I don't have to spend a few minutes in Google looking for it.

Add the following to /etc/X11/xorg.conf and restart X11 (yeah, you can use CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE for the last time!):

Section "Serverflags"
Option "DontZap" "yes"
EndSection