From: Terry R. Friedrichsen (terry_at_uplift.sunquest.com)
Date: Thu Oct 11 2001 - 13:09:31 BST
Flemming Madsen <fma_at_ccieurope.com> writes: >> One thing that hasn't been suggested is to use the keypad keys, a la the >> way some text editors work. > This way too strange in my opinion. Really? I guess it depends on what you're used to ... I've been primarily a user of DEC systems in my career (not through any real conscious choice; it's just rather worked out that way), and it's a common theme in DEC software to have a "keypad mode" in which the keypad functions as a set of easy-to-use function keys. Text editors, word processors, and even debuggers do this ... And remember, keypad "0" is a different key than top-row "0", so the top-row keys are still available for numeric inputs. Personally, I find the keypad more ergonometric than the row of function keys for tasks like this. On the downside, there are folks who defensibly regard *anything* that takes their hands away from the home-row keys as a detriment. But one of the beauties of X is that, once key assignments are made, they're trivially easy to change. It would be possible to have sets of key bindings for the "control key" crowd, the "function key" crowd, and the "keypad mode" crowd. And they wouldn't even need to be mutually exclusive! Having said all of this, I do also like the idea of having the "e" key do an expand, and having page up/down work, to take particular examples. As a merely occasional user of ups, though, I'm only here offering sugges- tions, not making requests. As long as it compiles cleanly and works on FreeBSD and Linux, my needs are met! Terry R. Friedrichsen terry_at_uplift.sunquest.com
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