Keyboards

Aaron aaron at aarons.net
Sun Apr 20 14:50:41 CDT 2003


I have a keyboard that has a picture of Tux as the window key and the menu
key is labled Linux.

Aaron

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Hutchins" <hutchins at tarcanfel.org>
To: "kclug" <kclug at kclug.org>; "HLUG" <hants at mailman.lug.org.uk>
Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2003 10:34 AM
Subject: Keyboards

> Ever since they first came out, one of the configuration options during
> installation has been to select a 104 Key "Windows" keyboard.  Even today
> though, only the latest Mandrake has made any use of the "extra" Windows
keys,
> ativating the application menu in Xwindows with the left Windows key.
None of
> the installations I've seen has an option to make intelligent use of
> the "context menu" key, although the logic of this key is consistent with
most
> Xwindows applications.
>
> Part of this, I think, is because of the strong mouse orientation of most
Linux
> developers.  Many Linux applications are even worse than Apple apps about
> requiring a mouse to perform even basic oeprations, and certainly for any
real
> functionality.  In this aspect, Microsoft has most of it's competitors
beat:
> most functions within most MS Windows software can be performed by
keyboard
> actions, although some may be obscure.  (As an example, you can use
Outlook for
> mail and access most if not all of it's features without a mouse, but
Lotus
> Notes requries the mouse for somes essential operations.)
>
> Perhaps it can also be explained by the "anti-Microsoft" attitude of some
> developers, who refuse to acknowledge good ideas in Windows so they can
claim
> their work is pure and not derived or imitative.  This attitude certainly
shows
> up in recent versions of RedHat which refuse to include MP3 capability,
> intefaces for standard Windows video formats, tools to import Windows
fonts,
> and other petty digs at the Microsoft world.
>
> In any case, I'd just like to say that as long as we're acknowledging the
> existance of the Windows keyboard, even if we're referring to it as a 104
key
> model with no Windows reference, let's go ahead and USE the features we've
been
> ignoring for so long.  Let's make that context menu key work properly, and
> enable BOTH the left and right Windows keys to do something useful.
>
> (This is where I should insert instructions for doing so, but this is a
one-
> coffee rant, not a thoroughly though-out article.  I'll post it if I get
it
> worked out for myself.)
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> This mail sent through tarcanfel's horde/imp system
>
>
>
>




More information about the Kclug mailing list