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Show HN: Espanso: detect a typed keyword and replace it while you're typing

espanso.org

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Re: Show HN: Espanso: detect a typed keyword and replace it while you're typing

#31

Post by federicoterzi »

flotothemoon wrote: post #26
federicoterzi wrote: post #5

(Author here) Feel free to ask any question, I'll be happy to answer them :)

First, this looks awesome, will be giving this a try. Is there a way to pass (inline) arguments to the expansion? Or would I use a form for that? e.g. ":member(test)" => "private test;"

Thanks! I'm currently working on a way to make this possible, but for now you will have to stick with forms :) (or passive mode [1], but I'd advice against that as it's going away in the next version).

[1]: https://espanso.org/docs/passive-mode/

Re: Show HN: Espanso: detect a typed keyword and replace it while you're typing

#34

Post by offtop5 »

federicoterzi wrote: post #15
offtop5 wrote: post #10

Looks really cool, but isn't this literally a key logger. I prefer this to be built in to maybe vs code, at least then I won't have to worry about accidentally capturing my passwords

Good point, I've wrote a short section to detail the security aspects: https://github.com/federico-terzi/espanso/blob/master/SECURI... TLDR: It's not a keylogger, because it doesn't log anything :) Moreover, on macOS the detection mechanism is automatically disabled on password fields

Thanks for the response, but unless I take the time to literally go to your entire repo and make sure you aren't doing anything weird, I'm not installing this thing.

Re: Show HN: Espanso: detect a typed keyword and replace it while you're typing

#35

Post by userbinator »

RicoElectrico wrote: post #7
federicoterzi wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Author here) As long as the program accepts keyboard input or clipboard pasting, espanso should work correctly. There are some programs that behave a little bit differently (such as Thunderbird on Linux), that require a couple of configuration changes to work as expected (for example, slowing down the injections if the program is slow to process input). Happy to answer any other question :)

> for example, slowing down the injections if the program is slow to process input It's 2021 and some people still don't separate UI into its own non-blocked thread. E.g. When crunching a big dataset in QGIS (on Win10), every digit I type into "Classes" box [1] blocks everything and I have to wait. [1] https://i.stack.imgur.com/oddT7.jpg

Given the... average quality of software in 2021, I'm not sure you'd rather have intermittent crashes and freezes instead, because multithreading is notoriously tricky to get right --- and I'm saying this as someone who has worked in software for several decades.

Re: Show HN: Espanso: detect a typed keyword and replace it while you're typing

#37

Post by federicoterzi »

jijji wrote: post #36

This is pretty awesome....For windows and DOS there has always been a program called Shorthand and PRD+, but nothing has existed for Linux.

Thanks! Actually, there is AutoKey for linux and it works pretty well, though I personally started espanso because I often use different operating systems, and none of the existing tools was cross-platform :)

Re: Show HN: Espanso: detect a typed keyword and replace it while you're typing

#38

Post by federicoterzi »

offtop5 wrote: post #34
federicoterzi wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point, I've wrote a short section to detail the security aspects: https://github.com/federico-terzi/espanso/blob/master/SECURI... TLDR: It's not a keylogger, because it doesn't log anything :) Moreover, on macOS the detection mechanism is automatically disabled on password fields

Thanks for the response, but unless I take the time to literally go to your entire repo and make sure you aren't doing anything weird, I'm not installing this thing.

That's absolutely ok! I'm also very open to feedback if you have any :)

Re: Show HN: Espanso: detect a typed keyword and replace it while you're typing

#39

Post by ivanbakel »

offtop5 wrote: post #34
federicoterzi wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point, I've wrote a short section to detail the security aspects: https://github.com/federico-terzi/espanso/blob/master/SECURI... TLDR: It's not a keylogger, because it doesn't log anything :) Moreover, on macOS the detection mechanism is automatically disabled on password fields

Thanks for the response, but unless I take the time to literally go to your entire repo and make sure you aren't doing anything weird, I'm not installing this thing.

If you're in a position to use this program[0], you're already taking the same risk by running most other programs on your machine - they also have access to your keypresses.

[0]: The only real reason you wouldn't be is if you're on a non-X Linux desktop. Wayland prevents this kind of program by design.

Re: Show HN: Espanso: detect a typed keyword and replace it while you're typing

#40

Post by dafman »

I've been using Espanso for about a month and it's made some tasks in my daily life so much easier. I regularly have to use template text, and instead of having to copy-paste it every time I've just set it to a snippet and it ends up saving me quite a lot of time. I've also taken to using it for URLs, as in some repsects its easier than having something bookmarked.

Definitely one of those tools that make me wonder how I got by without it

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