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Date:      Tue, 16 Jul 1996 12:44:35 -0700 (PDT)
From:      "Bryan K. Ogawa" <netvoyage.net!bkogawa@foo.netvoyage.net>
To:        Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.de>
Cc:        Branson Matheson <branson@widomaker.com>, FreeBSD Chat <chat@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: FreeBSD keyboard
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSI.3.94.960716122611.12291A-100000@foo.netvoyage.net>
In-Reply-To: <199607161030.MAA17298@allegro.lemis.de>

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On Tue, 16 Jul 1996, Greg Lehey wrote:

> Branson Matheson writes:

[...]
> >| ---- The Wall ----
> >|
> >| The ctrl key belongs in the bottom left corner .. next to alt and
> >| under shift!
> >|
> >| Just like the Esc belongs in the top left and tilde under it and
> >| backspace on the right hand side of the '=/+' key!
> >|
> >| -- End of The Wall --
> 
> 
> Is this a UNIX wall?  Mine says "FreeBSD: Turning PC's into
> Workstations".
> 
> It's been a long time since I've seen a UNIX user advocate this
> layout.  Why?

Personally, I like the Control key under the left-shift key.  I've been
exposed to the "to the right of A" layout for many years, so I'm not rabid
about it.  The trick is to use the side of the palm to hold down control,
instead of any finger.  This way, you can keep your hands on home row
while holding down control.  Of course, this may be bad for your hand
posture.  Alt is held down by the left thumb (which really isn't doing
anything anyway). 

My personal peeve is the location of the | key.  Considering how often
it's used in Unix, (and, even how often its counterpart, \, is used in
DOS), it has a really horrible position on too many keyboards.  I like the
position directly above enter.  The worst postions seem to come from Focus
keyboards, which is a shame since they have a very nice feel (e.g. to the
RIGHT of the right shift key (!)).  

On the subject of feel--does anyone know of some good keyboards (very high
quality membrane or click)?  I'm using a Fujitsu 4725, which is a Win95
keyboard (click, but in typing with it for a few weeks, a little too stiff
in the keys).  Pretty nice, and it has the | in the right place.  The
worse part (other than my constant minor annoyance at the feel) is that
the caps lock, etc. lights are embedded in the keys.

bryan

> 
> Greg
> 
> 




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