"Day Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> [...]
> Sometimes I wish there was a UNIVERSAL FAQ with a standard set
> of generally accepted hotkeys for programmers to follow. There
> is no reason it could not apply to all OSes.
There are some conventions, but they are not all DOS or PC conventions, and
most seem to center around the GUIs these days (combinations of mouse &
keyboard).
> Take the 'b' key
> for instance. I dont hava problem with it backing up a page,
> but why not also have the pgup key do the same? How long has
> it been since anyone has seen a keyboard which did not have
> the extended keyset? cheeze.
A number of people are quite proud of using keyboards completely absent of
any PC-style keys whatsoever. Their thinking is that moving the hands from
the home keys reduces efficiency (that word again!), plus they like the
small form factor.
Then there's the whole issue of distributed usage. Although this may not be
important to you, a large number of people access Unix programs via terminal
emulation packages. Not all support sending extended key codes, particularly
if you're using VT-xxx emulation.
> [...]
> F1 standard help. F10 standard exit. but what's wrong with
> also using the esc key? how does it conflict with meta?
But what about those cases where an application has used a set of "Unix"
keys for many, many years but some conflict with DOS "standards"? Which
should win out? (Let me guess.) Not to mention the fact that DOS apps only
started to standardize later on, and were by no means consistent.
> [...]
> Can you even buy a pc kybd now without 12 F keys? Why not
> use them all?
Well now, a number of the people on this list use keyboards with only the XT
layout.
> [...]
> no default standard is the only reason I see.
> hmmm. mousitus also. the idea that you should do everything
> with a click no matter how cumbersome.
Say that to a vi editor fanatic and you'll have an argument on your hand. :)
They'll argue that using any more than basic alphanumeric keyboard layouts
is cumbersome. I don't agree with them, but they'll still argue it to death!
> [...]
> I've always written dos batch programs, beats any gui menu.
> 'AA' launches Arachne, NPT for neopaint, MDR for modem doctor,
> and d.bat opens up the file manager on that drive. a.bat for
> the floppy, e.bat the cdrom... just the single letter gets me
> the drive.
Wait, now you're saying cryptic short command names are a GOOD thing? So why
not "cp" instead of "copy", "rm" instead of "del"? That's the philosophy
used early on in Unix. Come to think of it, the "/" key is in the same place
on my 1930's Royal typewriter as it is on every one of my 101-104 key
keyboards. Why NOT use it as the path separator? Hmm...
> but to do that with mandrake, would I havta be at the cli? or
> would it work in the gui... with the 'learn key' thing?
Wow, a QUESTION! You can do EXACTLY the same thing. You can launch GUI
programs from shell scripts. One X window manager is designed to ONLY give a
shell prompt. The "GUI" in this case is only there to allow multiple shell
windows to be on screen at once for multitasking.
> and didnt I read that ctrl-alt-bksp was spozeta exit the gui
> and leave me at the cli? what I get is the logon gui.
It's all over the documentation I've read. If your system is configured to
start in X, it will come back up that way, simply aborting your session.
Yes, amazingly keystrokes do things. That one aborts X, much like
ctrl-alt-delete in DOS will reboot your system, even if you're doing
something important.
- Bob
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