William Case >> I don't use vi or vim either. Mostly I use emacs, gedit or OO.org. But >> you would think there would be an universal accelerator key for an >> universal code -- eh? One problem is that there isn't a spare key on the keyboard to assign an unabiguous purpose to. We're reusing keys for different things (CTRL, ALT, various OS logo keys), with no consistency. Tony Nelson: > The "universal" way in X (or just FC?) is to set up a Compose key > (Keyboard Preferences -> Layout Options; I set "Menu is Compose"), and > then you can type accented characters by typing a suitable punctuation > mark with the compose key down and then the unaccented character. > This often takes me several tries, and it only does your basic western > accented characters. That's not strictly true. While I don't know of ways to type in some of the more obtuse characters that are available, things like the æ ligatures can be typed using the compose feature, and they're not accented characters. I long for the day that better keyboards are made. e.g. With additional typing keys, such as proper quotes on a key that you can just type, without needing to know a cryptic hotkey combination, or needing keycaps with four different legends printed on them. As well as a better feel to the keyboard than the average one. I was watching someone trying to type the other day, and thinking it's a shame someone doesn't bring out a keyboard more like the old linotypes, where the keyboard is layed out in a manner that's not too hard to comprehend (there's some sensible logic to what's placed where), and supposedly only needs to be operated using one hand. I once tried remapping a couple of my function keys to print the opening and closing double quotes. But all I ever acheived was a completely non-functioning keyboard. It ought to have been simple enough to do, but it wasn't. -- Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored. I read messages from the public lists.
