[haiku-bugs] Re: [Haiku] #7967: Update menu modifier images to more accurately reflect the corresponding key that appears on the keyboard

#7967: Update menu modifier images to more accurately reflect the corresponding
key that appears on the keyboard
------------------------------+----------------------------
   Reporter:  jscipione       |      Owner:  stippi
       Type:  enhancement     |     Status:  new
   Priority:  normal          |  Milestone:  R1
  Component:  User Interface  |    Version:  R1/Development
 Resolution:                  |   Keywords:
 Blocked By:                  |   Blocking:
Has a Patch:  0               |   Platform:  All
------------------------------+----------------------------

Comment (by bonefish):

 Replying to [comment:26 jscipione]:
 > Replying to [comment:25 bonefish]:
 > > I really can't say what Apple has done to its keyboards. [snip] If I
 misunderstood it and as you say they basically swapped Option and Command,
 then this demonstrates even more that what you're trying to do is simply
 not going to work, since 1. it would already be broken for old Mac
 keyboards and 2. keyboard manufacturers (at least Apple) apparently can
 change keys on a whim, which doesn't bode well for the future.
 >
 > The swapped keys happened when Apple switched to USB. It was an issue on
 BeOS Intel with a USB Mac keyboard as well (No idea about PPC). So that
 comment is invalid. The keys don't change willy-nilly.

 Good, they shuffle keys only when changing the interface. We should be
 safe as long as USB prevails.

 Anyway, sorry I got side-tracked. To address the Mac part of your original
 question:

 > are [you] willing to live with the fact that on a Mac keyboard the
 Option key corresponds to a bitmap that says "CMD" and the Command key
 corresponds to a menu bitmap that reads "OPT" then ok.

 Huh? Why would we map the keys the wrong way around?

 > Ignore Mac keyboards for now. Are you willing to deal with the confusion
 that will result when you change the menu bitmaps for people using PC
 keyboards?

 Absolutely! On Haiku's desktop wallpaper will be written: "When confused
 about shortcuts call ..." with my cell number. Oh, wait, that was a
 rhetorical question. I always get confused by those in a discussion.

 > You have to understand, I am advocating the change not for you and me --
 we already get it. I am advocating the change for people brand new to
 Haiku who won't understand what key roles are or what the Keymap preflet
 does, only what is in the menu and on their keyboard.

 I wonder what users you expect to use Haiku. I'm pretty sure my father
 never will, but I suspect he doesn't use shortcuts anyway. I expect the
 potential Haiku user to easily understand the situation. For users coming
 from MacOS there isn't even anything to understand, since the key roles
 are named after their keys. Users coming from Windows or Linux will find
 the Keymap preflet anyway, since they will want to address the "Control
 key issue".

 > "Read the User Guide" is a cop-out, we need an intuitive solution, even
 an imperfect one.

 Do we?

 Out of curiosity what does MacOS do when you use a non-Mac keyboard and
 what about Windows with a Mac keyboard? I'd be interested to learn how
 other systems deal with it. I suspect not at all, which essentially
 corresponds to declaring the native key names key roles with an (implicit)
 mapping for the alien keyboard. The Linux solution might be the most
 interesting. Particularly in tangobravo's case.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://dev.haiku-os.org/ticket/7967#comment:27>
Haiku <http://dev.haiku-os.org>
Haiku - the operating system.

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