Emacs keybindings for textboxes in firefox?

Solution 1:

Is this an insane request?

No! :-)

You can install the Firemacs addon to get emacs keybindings in Firefox:

There's also a rather technical article on MozillaZine on how to enable Emacs-style key bindings for Firefox via GTK. Both work very well, but I recommend the extension since it's so easy to install.

Solution 2:

To set emacs keybinding for all GTK based applications execute the following:

# legacy
gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/interface/gtk_key_theme Emacs --type string

# modern / e.g. 12.04
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-key-theme "Emacs"

See also Emacs Keybindings - Firefox