Re: [GTALUG] Was Re: Heads up: Ubuntu 21.10 kills your desktop icons now - keyboards

[D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk]

| From: Evan Leibovitch via talk 

|   The emergence of high-end gaming on PCs has led to a quest for
| keyboards that are super-responsive and comfortable for long periods.

Yeah.  That seems like the best place to look.

Beware: I've found their goals are not completely aligned with mine.
Here are some.

One feature that I don't care about is rainbow coloured lights for the 
keys.  Benign, but you are paying for this.  On mine (a Razer Blackwidow 
Ultimate -- love the names), I've got a green light per key, solidly on 
unless I install a daemon to change that.

Another is "tenkeyless" which means "without numeric keypad".  I use
the numeric keypad and don't want to lose it.

Another is low-latency: I've never noticed keyboard latency.

Another is: ugly seems to be valued.

All support n-key rollover, for large n.  This requires sending multiple 
USB packets per keystroke.  This in turn confuses the firmware on a couple 
of our machines: if we wish to adjust firmware settings, we have to plug 
in a different keyboard.  As you can imagine, that took some effort to 
figure out.

There are many web pages that describe the colours of switches.


My wife likes "blue" keys (noisy and tactile).
I like "brown" keys (less noisy but tactile).

If you care a lot, you may care about the company that produced the 
switches.  I haven't bothered to sudy this aspect.

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Re: [GTALUG] Was Re: Heads up: Ubuntu 21.10 kills your desktop icons now - keyboards

[James Knott via talk]

On 2021-10-21 2:25 p.m., Evan Leibovitch wrote:
There are no specific Linux keyboards, but they do sell Linux keycaps 
that can replace 
the Windows keys for those who want it.


IIRC, the Linux version is an option when you order.

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Re: [GTALUG] Was Re: Heads up: Ubuntu 21.10 kills your desktop icons now - keyboards

[William Witteman via talk]

I have had good success with Redragon keyboards - they're built like tanks
but they are very reasonably priced.  Knowing what colour of key you like
is important (I like loud and clicky), but you can get a solid keyboard for
less than $50, which is an outstanding price.  They tend to come with key
pullers and spare switches, which is a great touch.

On Thu., Oct. 21, 2021, 14:26 Evan Leibovitch via talk, 
wrote:

>
> I use an IBM model M keyboard.  I bought a few of them years ago, for $5
>> each.  They are excellent keyboards and built like a tank. There is a
>> company in the U.S. making new ones and they even have a Linux version,
>> with a Tux key.
>>
>
> And they come in black, now, too, with a choice of USB or PS/2 connector.
> 
>
> Not $5 but not bad.
>
> There are no specific Linux keyboards, but they do sell Linux keycaps
> that can replace the
> Windows keys for those who want it.
> - Evan
>
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Re: [GTALUG] Was Re: Heads up: Ubuntu 21.10 kills your desktop icons now - keyboards

[Evan Leibovitch via talk]

> I use an IBM model M keyboard.  I bought a few of them years ago, for $5
> each.  They are excellent keyboards and built like a tank. There is a
> company in the U.S. making new ones and they even have a Linux version,
> with a Tux key.
>

And they come in black, now, too, with a choice of USB or PS/2 connector.


Not $5 but not bad.

There are no specific Linux keyboards, but they do sell Linux keycaps
that can replace the
Windows keys for those who want it.
- Evan
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Re: [GTALUG] Was Re: Heads up: Ubuntu 21.10 kills your desktop icons now - keyboards

[Evan Leibovitch via talk]

On Thu, 21 Oct 2021 at 07:09, o1bigtenor via talk  wrote:

> Is it maybe not so much that Linux doesn't understand the keyboards but
> that the keyboard manufacturers are making such junk that Linux just
> struggles to understand the signals?
>

I certainly hope not. Most keyboards have standardized on keys, with the
exception of media keys and recent gamer-focused additions such as wheels.


> To get something that is going to last a bit better - - - is the only
> option the quite pricey items where they use the mechanical switches?
> Suggestions - - - -
>

In my experience, good keyboards can be found but they're off the beaten
path.  The emergence of high-end gaming on PCs has led to a quest for
keyboards that are super-responsive and comfortable for long periods. In
the fanatic search to decrease latency, some KBs have even reverted to the
old PS2 hardware interface instead of USB (for motherboards that support
it). Some will advertise what "colour" of Cherry switches they use, to
accomodate preferences regarding noise versus key travel etc. As a result,
you now have quality keyboards made by companies catering to PC modders --
my daily-use KB is made by Cooler Master, a company usually known for its
PC cases and CPU fans.

In my experiences most of these run in the $75-$125 range, with the
greatest selection at speciality component stores like Canada Computers or
Newegg. Way more expensive than the crap that gets shipped with PCs, but
far less than what specialty keyboards have sold for. And of all the
peripherals on the PC this is one of the ones that you interact with the
most, so it's worth a liitle more investment IMO.

HTH

- Evan
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Re: [GTALUG] Was Re: Heads up: Ubuntu 21.10 kills your desktop icons now - keyboards

[James Knott via talk]

On 2021-10-21 10:18 a.m., Peter King via talk wrote:

To get something that is going to last a bit better - - - is the only
option the quite pricey items where they use the mechanical switches?

Short answer: Yes.

I replaced my keyboard a few years back with a Das Keyboard (somewhere
around ~$100).  It was worth the price.  Now I can type all day without
getting fatigued or RSI, and it just plain feels better.  Of course YMMV,
but I found that buying higher-end keyboards made a great difference in my
usage, habits, and productivity.


I use an IBM model M keyboard.  I bought a few of them years ago, for $5 
each.  They are excellent keyboards and built like a tank. There is a 
company in the U.S. making new ones and they even have a Linux version, 
with a Tux key.


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Re: [GTALUG] Was Re: Heads up: Ubuntu 21.10 kills your desktop icons now - keyboards

[Peter King via talk]

On Thu, Oct 21, 2021 at 06:07:52AM -0500, o1bigtenor via talk wrote:

>To get something that is going to last a bit better - - - is the only
>option the quite pricey items where they use the mechanical switches?

Short answer: Yes.

I replaced my keyboard a few years back with a Das Keyboard (somewhere
around ~$100).  It was worth the price.  Now I can type all day without
getting fatigued or RSI, and it just plain feels better.  Of course YMMV,
but I found that buying higher-end keyboards made a great difference in my
usage, habits, and productivity.

-- 
Peter King  peter.k...@utoronto.ca
Department of Philosophy
170 St. George Street #521
The University of Toronto  (416)-946-3170 ofc
Toronto, ON  M5R 2M8
   CANADA

http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/

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