It appears that gnome get its keyboard settings primarily from X (!)
/etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Generic Keyboard" Driver "kbd" Option "XkbRules" "xorg" Option "XkbModel" "pc104" Option "XkbLayout" "dvorak" EndSection
If you put the correct settings in xorg.conf, gnome is not misbehaving anymore.
It appears that gnome get its keyboard settings primarily from X (!)
/etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "dvorak"
EndSection
If you put the correct settings in xorg.conf, gnome is not misbehaving anymore.