From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Oct 22 20:31:46 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AACDC1065671 for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:31:46 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jdc@koitsu.dyndns.org) Received: from QMTA08.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net (qmta08.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net [76.96.62.80]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4B7BE8FC19 for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:31:45 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jdc@koitsu.dyndns.org) Received: from OMTA12.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net ([76.96.62.44]) by QMTA08.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net with comcast id VuVt1a0070xGWP858wXY90; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:31:32 +0000 Received: from koitsu.dyndns.org ([69.181.141.110]) by OMTA12.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net with comcast id VwXj1a00Y2P6wsM3YwXkR9; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:31:45 +0000 X-Authority-Analysis: v=1.0 c=1 a=PaapGWNKAAAA:8 a=QycZ5dHgAAAA:8 a=E4h5yzWqICjFJYN03vEA:9 a=1wRA5eh2oMDTXiNzr8YA:7 a=nInNPE0s5XMM8y9498rLfY_-8VYA:4 a=EoioJ0NPDVgA:10 a=LY0hPdMaydYA:10 Received: by icarus.home.lan (Postfix, from userid 1000) id A78D0C9432; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:31:43 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:31:43 -0700 From: Jeremy Chadwick To: Nate Eldredge Message-ID: <20081022203143.GA67740@icarus.home.lan> References: <1216910072.2251.8.camel@jill.exit.com> <86fxmox51m.fsf@ds4.des.no> <20081022173634.GA57706@thought.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.18 (2008-05-17) Cc: Dag-Erling =?iso-8859-1?Q?Sm=F8rgrav?= , Gary Kline , freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org, freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Laptop suggestions? X-BeenThere: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Technical Discussions relating to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:31:46 -0000 On Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 01:06:20PM -0700, Nate Eldredge wrote: > On Wed, 22 Oct 2008, Gary Kline wrote: > >> On Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 01:06:29PM +0200, Dag-Erling Sm?rgrav wrote: >>> martinko writes: >>>> I have always thought that Fn key in left most bottom corner of the >>>> keyboard is, especially for programmers, a very bad idea. :-( >>> >>> Seconded. Worse still, on my Lenovo T60, if the Fn key is held down >>> longer than a fraction of a second, it generates an input event which >>> just happens to correspond to Gnome's default key binding for the "next >>> track" function in media players... >> >> I've seen that Fn key, but don't know what it is for. What? you press >> it, then follow with the integers [ 1, 2, 3 ... ]? At any rate, maybe >> you can remap the key with ~/.xmodmaprc. > > Fn is usually used on laptop keyboards to allow two logical keys to share > a single physical key. For example, see the keyboard pictured at > http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/3415.jpg . On the extreme lower > right is a key with "->" in white and "End" in blue. Pressing it by > itself sends the keycode corresponding to an ordinary keyboard's "->" > key. Holding Fn and pressing that key sends the keycode corresponding to > an ordinary keyboard's "End" key. On many keyboards, pressing Fn by > itself sends no keycode at all, so it cannot be remapped. > > It is also sometimes used to control hardware features which on a desktop > machine might have a different interface. For instance, on the laptop > pictured, holding Fn and pressing F6 would increase the screen > brightness, probably without sending a keycode. A desktop machine would > probably have a button on the monitor itself to do this. I always figured "Fn" was a good name for the key, given that it resembles the expletive that comes forth from my mouth when intending to hit Control. http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/9328.jpg ;-) -- | Jeremy Chadwick jdc at parodius.com | | Parodius Networking http://www.parodius.com/ | | UNIX Systems Administrator Mountain View, CA, USA | | Making life hard for others since 1977. PGP: 4BD6C0CB |