Re: Keyboard mapping of Option and Command

[Riccardo Mottola]

Hi,

your answer is not properly an answer to by question about defaults,, 
but some comments about topics, since the issue remains, despite nice 
chat about naming, where history mixes up with diversity and convenience.

Jamie Ramone wrote:
> I ALWAYS change the default to Alt = ALTernate (<-- hello?), Ctrl = 
> Control, and Windows key(s) = Command. I just find the Win keys in PC 
> keyboards to be a natural replacement for NeXT keyboard's Command key. 
> Leave control as control, leave alt as alt. This weird control or alt 
> as Command always felt awkward to me, especially now that keyboards 
> have special GUI specific keys such as the Win key which is otherwise 
> a hood ornament on systems GNUstep runs on other than Windows, such as 
> Linux.
>    Also, when the Win key is unavailable (e.g. Ubuntu hardcoding it to 
> desktop functionality), I use the Menu key.
> Here's the contents of my NSGlobalDomain.plist:
>
> You can check it out if you want for any code examples on how to 
> implement something like that as well at 
> https://github.com/JamieRamone/MondoPreferences.

We have SystemPreferences which allows mapping and which I used. Mapping 
an extra key to represent command and remove ambiguity works. Or at 
least should work - if application did not do strange workarounds, as 
GWorkspace did.
I am working to remove that workaround, an application should just use 
the masks for modifiers as being native to NeXT or Mac, the rest should 
be hidden
I think it is easy to agree on that.

The problem is what to do with the default setup, more about below.


> One thing I'd suggest we do is purge things like Meta and Super from 
> our vocabulary. SUN is dead, and has been for decades. Fancy-shmancy 
> terminals are a relic of a bygone era. Just about everyone has either 
> a PC or a Mac. There are Win, Ctrl, and Alt for PC, and Option, 
> Control and Command for Macs. Also Option = Alt and Ctrl = Control, so 
> the only real "extra" or "new(-ish)" keys are the Win and sometimes 
> present menu keys.That's what the everyday Joe Blow will call them, we 
> should as well. It's just one of the many, many little things that 
> hamper wide(r)-spread adoption.

That is a bit a presumptuous statement. Luckily, the world isn't just 
about Win and Mac anymore and also Mac changed some of its keys (e.g. 
right alt, enter...)
I don't like your suggestion because it sounds cool but is not. Think 
about Meta, Super, Hyper just terms you need to bridge. Average Joe just 
needs to care about actions of Copy & Paste and the terms actually used 
in NeXT/Apple terminology. Command & Option.
Sun didn't have those keys, it had a different layout, although command 
very similar to Apple and a nice compose key. Those terms are much 
older, come from the Symbolics keyboard - so old that the names are just 
magic...  perhaps best would be to call them "key with log left to space 
bar" or such. Think them about as intermediate names you just need to 
setup once and forget.
It is not so easy. I don't want a menu option called "window key" in 
SystemPreferences. Why? Not everybody is using a full PC keyboard with 
standard layout
* One could use a Sun! yes, Linux, BSD runs on them. Or could just use a 
Sun or Apple USB keyboard attached to a PC.
* One could use a laptop... several laptops lack the window & menu keys 
or put them in awkawrd places or require a Fn-key combination making 
them useless
* One could use a raspberry, then what... "Fruit key" ?
* Chromebook keybord? hes neither... no there is no Google key :)

Further things complicate this. Explained that Hyper, Syper, Meta have 
no real meaning in any normal computer of the last 20 years, it is also 
different how they are mapped... so Hyper could be Windows in one setup, 
but something else in another. You said yourself Ububtu eats keys.
So... complicated.
A way would be to provide a standard mapping menu, but allow packages 
for specifc OS to tailor it or such a thing... complicated, but doable.


The problem of what offer to default with GNUstep remains:
- Default to a 3 keyboard setup and have the people with lesser 
keyboards tweak it?
- still in case 2 keys only are available, something needs to be done. 
The current setup is bad, it is well tailored for menu shortcuts, but 
not for mouse operation. So I could propose Mouse to have a different 
meaning of alt... in case offer another solution to reach the missing 
command. This could be generalized, in case during setup of defaults one 
wants to swap things (some keyboards have ctrl in another place...) but 
still ends up with overlapping things. Offer a Mouse extra modifier? 
different Keyboard and mouse setups?

Riccardo