Bug#192305: "q to end, b for begin" ambiguous
On Sun, 11 May 2003, Thomas Viehmann wrote:
> debian@computerdatasafe.com.au wrote:
> > A problem with mnemonic keys is that they don't translate.
> >
> > While you may find a clear, unambiguous set in English - quite a
> > challenge if there are more than a few - when you want to try to
> > translate them to other languages, the scheme falls down.
> >
> > Function keys are good. IBM (I mention IBM only because that's where my
> > experience lies) has been using them since the early 70s.
> For someone who isn't acquainted to using English whenever touching a computer,
> mapping arbitrary Letters to Functions is not harder that mapping "Function
> Keys" (a term that is foreign to them) to Functions. On the contrary, many
> people have never used that additional row of keys above the numbers.
Quite a bit of software does use them, and for those whose fingers
aren't as numble as the once were, they are very easy to use: one
keypress, most common functions do not require holding down another at
the same time.
I'm in my 50s: I've been using computers for over 30 years. I still
don't like control-this, control-that.
Both my parents are (alive and) in their 80s. They're thinking of
getting their first computer. I don't seem them coming to terms with ^W,
^Q etc, but maybe I could put labels on the function keys: I've done it
for myself before.
I know you were not proposing control-{this,that}, but it's a logical
extension of what you were suggesting
> It's far more important to avoid keys they don't know from mechanic keyboards
> (i.e. it would be optimal to have every function available on keys for letters -
> starting from "return" and "tab", things get worse).
There are times when simple letters are not enough and you need to
choose between alternatives such letters combined with {alt,control} and
function keys.
Function keys were invented for this purpose. Yast (SuSE's setup tool)
uses them. I gather there are keyboards where this represents a problem,
I think not because the keyboard lacks the keys but because Yast (or the
libraries it uses) does not recognise them. In such cases, one uses the
escape key followed by [0-9]. I don't know that Yast requires more
functions than that.
> Also, shortcuts are almost never translated, and people having ever used
Sounds like discrimination to me;-). I'm peeved enough that Americans
don't know that we use A4 paper, colour is spelled colour etc. At least
American is fairly close to English;-).
> computer shortcuts before will be happier with "q" for quit than anything else.
>
> > I can't for the life of me recall which key provided "cancel."
> Maybe Escape?
Escape is actually a transmission control character. It's use as
"cancel" is a functional overload. I found it very strange for years.
The terminals I used back then had no such key. Its function was
assigned to one of the 24 function keys.
The terminals were IBM 3270s, if you fire up x3270 or c3270 you will get
the idea. In use, they are a bit like a web browser: you type stuff in,
but it doesn't go to the host until you press the enter key or one of
the 24 function keys.
>
> Cheers
>
> T.
>
--
Cheers
John Summerfield
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