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I already posted this question in stackoverflow:
but I was informed there that this is the right place to ask it.
I check "Use option as meta key" checkbox in Mac OS X Terminal, because I like to use emacs way of moving between words: M-f & M-b.
But if I do that, I can't get the backslash (Option + º; i.e.: Option + key-at-the-left-of-1-in-spanish-keyboard). If I uncheck it, then I can input the backslash, but I don't have M-f & M-b.
Is there a way to get both? This is driving me nuts!
And, as I already answered you on stackoverflow, the solution is to put the following line into your ~/.bash_profile, which remaps the unicode character "∫" (Unicode: E288AB, which is what is sent to your terminal right now in your desired configuration when you press Option + °) to the backslash character:
bind '"\033\xE2\x88\xAB"':'"\\"'
I have built a solution myself and it doesn't require abandoning Terminal.app in favour of iTerm 2.
It is a simple status bar app that runs in the background and rewrites all left Alt + $KEY key events to two key events in rapid succession, Esc, then $KEY; however, it only does this if Terminal.app is in focus.
You can find the source for the app here. You'll need Xcode to build it.
Asmus' answer does not seem enough because it fixes backslash on bash. But then there's zsh. And Emacs. And etc.
But since there's no way to map non-function keys in Terminal.app, I'm afraid I can't see another solution: you'd have to go ahead and map all the keys you want in all the programs you need them, which is a drag and is not optimum, because you won't ever have ƒ and ^[f at once.
Or try habibalamin's solution, it seems far simpler and it keeps distinct functionality for left alt and right alt. I will vote up after trying it.
I can't comment with my rep on this stack site, sorry.
