williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams) (12/11/90)
I was speaking to a SUNperson at the FedUNIX show (Washington, DC) yesterday and launched into my canned speach on Why I Hate The Type 4 Keyboard. To my astonishment, the SUNperson claimed that there would be a new keyboard option available next year! I asked cautiously if this would be a DEC LK-201 layout, the only common layout worse than the Type-4, but happily, he indicated it would not. Apparently, it will be an IBM-PC 101 style. This I can live with. If they have slavishly followed the original 101 style, and have the control and CAPS LOCK in the wrong places, at least that can be fixed by a keymap. Of more concern is the position of ESC. On the original 101, and almost all clones, the ESCape key is NOT to the left of the 1/! key, but above it and to the left. This is wrong. Hopefully, Sun will put it back Where God Intended, next to the 1/!. That position on the 101 Keyboard usually has a `/~ key, so a keymap can often fix that bug too. But the real win of the 101 style is that there is no key between the quotes ('/") key and the return, as there is on the type-4 (and the DEC LK-201). No keymap can fix that, since it is a matter of physical key layout. The SUNperson did not know if this new keyboard was just a new layout, or if a full IBM-PC style electrical interface would be offered. This would be the ideal solution, since I could buy my favorite third party PC keyboard (currently a Northgate model that puts the bloody ESCape in the right place) and just plug it in. Anyone at Sun care to confirm, deny or elaborate? Jim, hoping for Keyboard Relief... Spoken: Jim Williams Domain: williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov Phone: +1 301 286-4405 UUCP: uunet!mimsy!williams USPS: NASA/GSFC, Code 633, Greenbelt, MD 20771