Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

fifafrazer · 2008-08-13 18:54:32

Okay, for a long time now, I've been using my windows key (super key) to launch programs and stuff on my system,
but now I've bought a IBM model M keyboard which has no windows key. I don't like binding ctrl+alt + key for my shortcuts,
because those combinations are often already used by the program I'm using. It was very nice with the super key. As it is
not a standard key, it is not occupied by any other program. What key combinations do you use?
I've been thinking about using my gamepad for shortcut keys, or I could buy a small USB keyboard, just for shortcuts.

COMMUNISTCHINA · 2008-08-13 19:07:41

ctrl+shift

SiC · 2008-08-13 19:43:08

You should use xkb to rebind another key, such as alt gr to the super key so that you can continue to use the functionality. I don't really bother with keyboard shortcuts, except in applications, I just use the multimedia keys on my board for common apps.

What made you get a Model M? Lovely keyboards btw, jealous

fifafrazer · 2008-08-13 19:51:05

Okay.. Good idea about the Alt Gr key I think, but wouldn't that make me unable to do the special characters on a danish layout keyboard? Afaik UK layout has no AltGr special characters, but in Denmark we do AltGr + 2 to get a '@'

The model M i got is a 1391407 from 1993

pauldonnelly · 2008-08-14 05:26:44

You could use Caps Lock for the Super key... or even better, turn Caps Lock into Backspace and Backspace into Super. You lose Caps Lock, but I know a lot of people hate that key anyway.

Berticus · 2008-08-14 12:32:46

Who the heck hates Caps lock? I use it all the time if I need to type more two or more consecutive capital letters. So much better than holding down the shift key.

What keyboard shortcuts are you looking for? In XMonad, I kept the default bindings for the most part. All I did was add a few for the Mosaic layout.

Procyon · 2008-08-14 12:47:49

I sacrificed my numpad to get WM control without modifiers.

mentallaxative · 2008-08-14 15:53:56

Berticus wrote:

Who the heck hates Caps lock? I use it all the time if I need to type more two or more consecutive capital letters. So much better than holding down the shift key.
What keyboard shortcuts are you looking for? In XMonad, I kept the default bindings for the most part. All I did was add a few for the Mosaic layout.

I've been using Caps Lock as the replacement for C-t in Ratpoison, and I have never missed it. I also have the right Alt key bound as a second Escape, so I don't have to reach to the far corner with my left hand.

pauldonnelly · 2008-08-14 21:01:50

Berticus wrote:

Who the heck hates Caps lock? I use it all the time if I need to type more two or more consecutive capital letters. So much better than holding down the shift key.

Lots of (extremely vocal) people (by which I mean whiners ). Don't look at me—I use it all the time—but it's a likely candidate for replacement and it's in a convenient place. On topic, iirc, I used to use scroll lock for my Ratpoison prefix key back when I was using my model M (which I've had to put in storage until I have a desktop computer again).

fifafrazer · 2008-08-17 20:15:06

Okay, I think I will bind my caps lock key to super key, and the scroll lock to caps lock. I don't ven know what that key (scroll lock) is normally used for. I cant remember using it for anything.

thisllub · 2008-08-17 21:21:43

Berticus wrote:

Who the heck hates Caps lock? I use it all the time if I need to type more two or more consecutive capital letters. So much better than holding down the shift key.
What keyboard shortcuts are you looking for? In XMonad, I kept the default bindings for the most part. All I did was add a few for the Mosaic layout.

If you VNC into a Windows user's computer over a slow connection I can guarantee they will have the caps lock on.
You get to type about 30 characters before they appear, they are all in caps and you have to start again.

I don't object to the caps lock, I just think it should be in the hardest location on the keyboard to reach.

Berticus · 2008-08-17 21:41:10

fifafrazer wrote:

Okay, I think I will bind my caps lock key to super key, and the scroll lock to caps lock. I don't ven know what that key (scroll lock) is normally used for. I cant remember using it for anything.

it locks the scrolling. So like if you have a ton of output in the virtual console (runlevel 3), you can pause the output by hitting the scroll lock button.

thisllub wrote:

I just think it should be in the hardest location on the keyboard to reach.

depends how often you use it. For someone like me who uses it somewhat regularly, the location it's at right now is perfect.

Also, whiners are the only ones who use caps lock. There are other perfectly legit reasons to lock caps.

thisllub wrote:

If you VNC into a Windows user's computer over a slow connection I can guarantee they will have the caps lock on.

I'm a bit confused with this sentence... how can you guarantee that?

Last edited by Berticus (2008-08-17 21:42:32)

pauldonnelly · 2008-08-18 00:17:50

Berticus wrote:

fifafrazer wrote:
Okay, I think I will bind my caps lock key to super key, and the scroll lock to caps lock. I don't ven know what that key (scroll lock) is normally used for. I cant remember using it for anything.
it locks the scrolling. So like if you have a ton of output in the virtual console (runlevel 3), you can pause the output by hitting the scroll lock button.

^s (^q to resume) works too, so unless you have a strange program that responds only to scroll lock, you can safely rebind the key without losing functionality.

thisllub · 2008-08-18 04:55:00

Berticus wrote:

fifafrazer wrote:
Okay, I think I will bind my caps lock key to super key, and the scroll lock to caps lock. I don't ven know what that key (scroll lock) is normally used for. I cant remember using it for anything.
it locks the scrolling. So like if you have a ton of output in the virtual console (runlevel 3), you can pause the output by hitting the scroll lock button.
thisllub wrote:
I just think it should be in the hardest location on the keyboard to reach.
depends how often you use it. For someone like me who uses it somewhat regularly, the location it's at right now is perfect.
Also, whiners are the only ones who use caps lock. There are other perfectly legit reasons to lock caps.
thisllub wrote:
If you VNC into a Windows user's computer over a slow connection I can guarantee they will have the caps lock on.
I'm a bit confused with this sentence... how can you guarantee that?

It's called Murphy's law.

fifafrazer · 2008-08-18 16:09:53

Okay, I ended up sacrificing my caps lock key for the super key, and I kept the scroll lock as it is. But everything is still not sweet harmony, since I have some problems with the multi-key/compose-key, or whatever it is called. I'm using danish layout and want to be able to write square brackets and the 'at' sign, when holding down alt-gr. The functionality works flawlessly in the terminal, but not in xorg. Please come with your suggestions.

Here is my xorg config:

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc105"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "dk"
EndSection

Settung the XkbModel to pc102 does not change anything.
and this is my .Xmodmap:

keycode 66 = Super_L

remove Mod4 = Super_L
remove Lock = Caps_Lock
add Mod4 = Super_L
add Mod3 = Scroll_Lock

I had to 'add Mod3' to get the Scroll_Lock key to work

And the important part of my rc.conf is:

LOCALE="da_DK.utf8"
HARDWARECLOCK="localtime"
TIMEZONE="Europe/Copenhagen"
KEYMAP="dk-latin1.map.gz"
CONSOLEFONT="cp850-8x16"
CONSOLEMAP=8859-15
USECOLOR="yes"

I've tried to use keymap "dk.map.gz" as well, but that is also out of luck.

Another minor issue is that num lock turns off, just after the grub screen, and I would like to keep it on.

Last edited by fifafrazer (2008-08-18 16:12:21)

fifafrazer · 2008-08-18 18:36:53

I have now troubleshooted my problem the whole day, and i've found out that when I make changes to the modifieres with xmodmap, the alt gr behaviour becomes wrong. Even

add Mod3 = Scroll_Lock

makes me unable to write 3rd level characters. This is very weird behaviour I think, and it might be considered a bug. Any suggestions?

fifafrazer · 2008-08-18 20:11:25

This is just getting more and more weird.
I've figured out, that if I run the following script some seconds after X has been launched, everything works as intended, but if I run it with XFCE's autostart, it does not. Then I'll have the weird behaviour once again. This is getting a very weird workaround, but is there some sort of timer program, that is able to execute the script in a few seconds after X has been launched?

#!/bin/bash
xmodmap -e "add Mod3 = Scroll_Lock" &
xmodmap -e "clear Lock" &
xmodmap -e "keycode 66 = Super_L" &
xmodmap -e "add Mod4 = Super_L"

EDIT:
I've found a way to delay the script.. Adding Sleep 10 to the beginning of the bash script, and executing the script with xfce's autostart system has fixed everything for me, but I consider it as a very weird hack and I would still like to find out the cause of this stupidness. It is not xfce's fault, because I've tried with LXDE as well. After all it is nice to have found a workaround

Last edited by fifafrazer (2008-08-18 20:43:39)

fifafrazer · 2008-08-19 18:34:12

I have now found out that what really matters is, that I have to press any key on the keyboard in xorg before running xmodmap, and then it works. If I dont touch anything the alt gr key will still have weird behavior. I'm still open for suggestions.

fflarex · 2008-11-10 18:55:01

I know this is an old thread, but if you still have the same problem, you could use xdotool to simulate a key press before xmodmap. It's still a hack, but at least you won't need to press a key manually every time.

moljac024 · 2008-11-10 18:58:49

Yup, Model M would be great if it only had a windows/super key.... You can use that thing for a bunch of keyboard shortcuts!

elmer_42 · 2008-11-10 20:14:58

You can buy one of the Unicomp Model Ms, they come in versions with Super keys. I actually just use the Alt key, which is the default key in wmii anyway, but I have rebinded Caps Lock to be an Esc, that way it's easier to use vim.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-08-13 18:54:32

Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#2 2008-08-13 19:07:41

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#3 2008-08-13 19:43:08

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#4 2008-08-13 19:51:05

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#5 2008-08-14 05:26:44

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#6 2008-08-14 12:32:46

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#7 2008-08-14 12:47:49

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#8 2008-08-14 15:53:56

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#9 2008-08-14 21:01:50

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#10 2008-08-17 20:15:06

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#11 2008-08-17 21:21:43

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#12 2008-08-17 21:41:10

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#13 2008-08-18 00:17:50

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#14 2008-08-18 04:55:00

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#15 2008-08-18 16:09:53

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#16 2008-08-18 18:36:53

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#17 2008-08-18 20:11:25

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#18 2008-08-19 18:34:12

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#19 2008-11-10 18:55:01

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#20 2008-11-10 18:58:49

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

#21 2008-11-10 20:14:58

Re: Keyboard shortcuts - what do you use?

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