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I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

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Re: I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

#121

Post by netsharc »

maybal wrote: post #87

At least your keyboard has a Fn lock shortcut. Mine doesn't, so I'm stuck either taping down the Fn key or living in constant fear of accidentally sleeping my PC. Real first world problems but still

You can remap the keys so that "Special: Power" key button does nothing.. Or even to the original function (on my keyboard it would mean Volume Down would be F12 instead).

One Windows software to do that: https://github.com/randyrants/sharpkeys / https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/xpffcg7m673d4f?hl=en-US

On Linux, heck it's Linux, for sure it's doable.

Re: I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

#122

Post by nailer »

> every time I want to press an F-key for its intended purpose

Oh. I thought by "I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys" he meant the opposite - many people don't ever use F1-F12 for their intended purpose.

Re: I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

#124

Post by packetlost »

chuckadams wrote: post #117
packetlost wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mostly agree with GP on stateful controls, but emacs has never clicked for me like vim did. Perhaps it's because switching between modes feels more natural than a simple toggle.

Whereas I cut my teeth on emacs in the early 90's, so modal is what felt awkward. I wouldn't dislike vim's modes so much if it just had one combination insert/append mode that worked like every other editor out there (including a couple other modal editors I've used), but even after adding various hacks to my vimrc to help unify the two modes, I still stumble over the behavior differences in other places. I really li…

Honestly, there are more "modern" editors with even more intuitive flows. Helix being one. I think the ideal editor for me would be something like a mix of Helix's shortcuts with structural regexp like in vis.

Re: I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

#125

Post by packetlost »

allarm wrote: post #51
packetlost wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mostly agree with GP on stateful controls, but emacs has never clicked for me like vim did. Perhaps it's because switching between modes feels more natural than a simple toggle.

I have the same feeling and I use evil-mode in Emacs because of that. It's basically Vim inside of Emacs.

I tried evil-mode for awhile, but it had too many edge cases that behave differently so I went back /shrug

Re: I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

#126

Post by chuckadams »

jerf wrote: post #64
__s wrote: post #12

I've switched to programmable ergo keyboards where there's a whole slew of options ( https://precondition.github.io/home-row-mods just covers home row mods) I've always hated stateful control. Always ripped out caps lock key from my boards (or later figured out remapping), same for insert mode That's carried over, even with options like one shot mods, & cutting down to under 40 keys (& playing with 28, yesterday rece…

"I've always hated stateful control. Always ripped out caps lock key from my boards (or later figured out remapping), same for insert mode" You want some real fun, try the Microsoft Surface keyboard. Maybe they've fixed in a very recent version, but given how long the product line has had this problem, probably not. It has a stateful Fn key . That's right, a Fn key that works like capslock . There is no conceivable w…

I have a mac, and I wouldn't mind a fn-lock feature, but only from a different key combo, maybe fn+capslock. The behavior of fn (media keys or function keys) is a control panel setting, so I could probably whip up something with hammerspoon. But right now I just remap most things in my IDE so they don't require function keys.

Anyway, keyboards have needed drivers since we stopped using BIOS to read them, and fancy keyboards with macros tend to need at least a userspace daemon, but yeah this kind of thing should be as much a commodity as a VGA framebuffer is, something you just shouldn't have to fuss with. Far as I know though, USB and the *HCI zoo pretty much are that, so along with the OS's own built-in support, it should support the basic functionality of any keyboard, and provide standard means for extension. I believe the main reason any company ships a 1GB keyboard "driver" these days is the bundled shovelware and spyware.

Re: I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

#127

Post by scrlk »

XorNot wrote: post #97

I definitely hate the G-keys on a Logitech G915 more though. It's a perfectly good full size mechanical keyboard with low travel...and a row of keys on the left hand side which obliterates the typing ergonomics of it. Meanwhile they stopped making the K740 which is basically the perfect keyboard (which I am now typing on after buying a replacement key - the Cherry Stream is good but man....this still just feels bette…

The rationale behind the Fn-Ctrl layout used on ThinkPads until very recently:

> The Fn key was originally placed by the ThinkPad designers in the lower left hand corner to make the key easier to locate when using the keystroke combinations. There was a rationale. This is especially handy for turning on the ThinkLight in the dark. Aim for the two extreme corners.

https://web.archive.org/web/20111115202457/http://www.lenovo...

IMO, putting Ctrl in the bottom left still isn't great for ergonomics: Ctrl should be where Caps Lock is, in line with the home row. This was the case on the original PC keyboard (IBM Model F) before it was moved to the bottom left in the Model M.

One of the only mass-produced keyboards that has Ctrl in this position today is the Apple Japanese keyboard: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/mxcl3j/a/magic-keyboard-u...

Re: I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

#128

Post by chuckadams »

Tallain wrote: post #100
x187463 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a Macbook, natural scrolling feels right on the touchpad. The real crime is not having a separate setting for a mouse. I had to use applescript tied to a keybind so I can use natural scrolling on the touchpad and toggle to regular scrolling when using a mouse wheel.

Another recommendation is LinearMouse. It lets you fix pretty much every problem that MacOS inflicts on mouse users: pointer acceleration, scroll behavior, click/button behavior. This and Karabiner make the OS much more usable for me.

I must be the only person in the world who actually likes pointer acceleration. Karabiner is a must though: I use it solely for "remap capslock to hyper/esc", but that's still reason enough.

Re: I Hate (Most) Keyboard 'Fn' Keys

#130

Post by jonhohle »

CarVac wrote: post #8

Speaking of "natural scrolling" it is horrible because most scrolling is downward and "natural" is an ergonomically inferior pushing action instead of pulling. It's only natural on the actual display itself. Anothe affront to nature by Apple, along with killing the headphone jack.

Apple, to my knowledge, never sold a mouse with a wheel. Their first mouse with scrolling was the Mighty Mouse, which used a small trackball to simulate a touch surface. It was spring mounted and would fall flush when scrolling oven a sensation similar to the Magic Mouse (this is my favortite mouse and the one I still use today). The Magic Mouse extended on this idea by replacing the ball with a multitouch trackpad.

In either scenario, “natural scroll” feels like you’re pulling on the surface which maps directly to sliding on the screen.

It makes less sense if you think about a wheel pulling the page beneath it.

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