[openbeos] Re: Haiku-key

Ronald Vos <egregius@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I was thinking more along the lines of having it
> enabled by default, so that users can enjoy extra 
> productivity without extra prior investment.

It -is- on by default, but it doesn't do what you want.
I'll try to explain the situation, and how we got here.

For a good understanding of BeOS you need to look at its evolution from 
BeBox, via PowerMacs to the Intel PC. Discounting Shift keys, etc, a 
Macintosh keyboard has 3 modifier keys:  Ctrl, Option and the Apple 
keys.

I believe these three are the rationale behind Be's symbolic modifier 
key names: 

The Apple key: 
B_COMMAND_KEY, B_LEFT_COMMAND_KEY, B_RIGHT_COMMAND_KEY

The Option (Mac keyboard Alt) key:
B_OPTION_KEY, B_LEFT_OPTION_KEY, B_RIGHT_OPTION_KEY

The Control key:
B_CONTROL_KEY, B_LEFT_CONTROL_KEY, B_RIGHT_CONTROL_KEY

This must be a later x86 influence:
B_MENU_KEY  

The Apple keys are the ones closest to the space bar, and this is the 
reason why on a PC keyboard, when used with BeOS, the Alt keys are used 
as the shortcut keys. (Alt-X/C/V for cut/copy/paste, Alt-F for Find, 
and so on. You can switch Alt/Ctrl on BeOS, but it's a hack.)

PCs only have 2: Ctrl and Alt, though many keymaps label the right Alt 
key as "Alt Gr", essentially splitting the Alt keys, having separate 
purposes. (It's used for making a lot of special character, like in the 
Swedish keymap @£${[]}\| which you see are pretty essential characters, 
especially to a programmer.) As BeOS hogs both Alt keys, the Alt-Gr 
function is lost. This has always been a problem for non-American BeOS 
users, or rather those who rely on Alt-Gr. The Alt-Gr function needs 
another modifier key, which is why the Windows Start keys are used. 
(I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but at some point there was 
actually a split Control key, to make up for the way BeOS needed both 
Alt keys.)

What can be argued, as has been recently on this list, is that the 
Windows Start- and [context] menu keys are ubiquitous enough to make it 
an OK design decision to bind certain user interface features to them. 
I agree, but the Windows key is currently used as a B_OPTION_KEY on 
many BeOS keymaps, which is absolutely essential for typing a full set 
of characters.

If we were to start remapping keys one might want to consider 
swallowing our pride and going with a fully standard keymap, with Ctrl 
as the shortcut key. That would be the only complete solution.

Personally I love having the Alt key as the shortcut key, and find the 
Mac keyboards to have a much nicer layout than PC keyboards. PC 
keyboards aren't Mac keyboards however. Using standard keymaps would 
make it easier to coexist (dual boot, etc) and also to share/import 
good keymaps.

/Jonas Sundström.                       www.kirilla.com

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