Configuring the Keyboard ?

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Thu, Dec 09, 2004 at 09:11:36AM -0500, Geoffrey Hunter wrote:
> Does anyone on this list know how to configure the keyboard ?
> 
> I have two frequent irritations:
> 
> I Never want Overwrite Mode and I Never want Caps-Lock On, 
> yet when I am typing some text, one or the other 
> "accidentally" (mysteriously) gets set On.

I think you can ask xmodmap (for X) and loadkeys for console to disable
or remap to different purposes those keys.

> When I notice that the text that I thought I was inserting is actually
> overwriting some text that I want to keep, I key the Insert Key to
> toggle Overwite Off, and then (if I can remember) re-write the text
> that was overwritten (this happened while I was typing this email).

vi makes the distinction between r (replace) and i (instert) and a
(append) rather clear.  Are you using something else? :)

> When I notice that the text that I thought was (mostly) in lower case
> is in fact in ALL CAPS, then I key the Caps Lock key to set Caps Lock
> Off, erase everything that I just typed and re-type it in (mostly)
> lower case.

Your editor doesn't have a 'change case' option?

> I'd like to permanently disable the Overwrite and ALL-CAPS modes under
> both Linux (Mandrake 8.x) and Windows (XP), which would include
> disabling the Insert and Caps-Lock keys

On XP, good luck.  On linux look at xmodmap and loadkeys documentation.

> It would be preferable to configure a single Keyboard Driver 
> (used by all application programs) so that the disabling would 
> apply to all application programs that receive keyboard input.

> I found out how to make Windows Beep when Caps Lock gets set on
> (which alerts me to press the Caps Lock key to set it Off), but 
> couldn't find out how to do this for Insert/Overwrite, 
> nor how to permanently disable either of them.

I don't think you can disable that "feature".

> Incidentally, in an ideal world the 26 letters of our alphabet would
> be arranged in alphabetical order; the QWERTY order was designed to
> slow down (I kid you not) typing on mechanical typewriters to reduce
> the occurrence of key-hammer jams; it is an unfortunate legacy that
> we are still using that slow-you-down arrangement when its purpose
> has not pertained since mechanical typewriters were displaced by 
> electric typewriters, and later by electronic input.

alphabetical order is probably no better (althoug perhaps no worse)
than qwerty, azerty, qwertz, dvorak, etc. (And I don't want any flames
over saying dvorak isn't any better.  From the most recent studies I
have seen, there really is no real difference.  It works better for some
people and not for others.  The disadvantage of not being able to type
on what is a "standard" keyboard seems to far outweight any potential
advantage.  If you really wnat a better keyboard, there are way better
layouts than a regular shape keyboard, they just cost a lot more.)

> How about this for a (partial) keyboard arrangement:
> 
>      A B C D E F G H I
>      1 2 3 J K L M N O   4 rows x 9 columns
>      4 5 6 P Q R S T U    = 36 characters = 26 letters + 10 digits
>      7 8 9 0 V W X Y Z
> 
> 3 of the vowels (I,O,U) are at the ends of the first 3 rows;
> A is at the beginning of the first row,
> E is symmetrically in the middle of the first row, 
> (which is good because E is the most frequently used vowel).

In english yes.  Not in many other languages.

Stop rearanging keys on the keyboard and go make a better shape of
keyboard if you really want to make things better. :)

Lennart Sorensen
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