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Cherry Announces Linux keyboard
Errtu76 writes "ZDnet says Cherry has announced a specially designed Linux keyboard that will be available in the UK, Ireland and Germany later this year.
The Cherry CyMotion Master Linux keyboard has the Linux penguin logo, Tux, instead of the Windows start key and features 29 hot keys. The hot keys are configured for the Linux operating system and desktop applications, simplifying actions such as cutting, copying and pasting text, and moving between Web pages.
PCworld has a little more info on the keyboard."
"We want to first see if the product is successful. The Windows market is bigger, but other manufacturers have yet to focus on the Linux market."
See their problem is that they are catering to two separate markets. I say they cater to everyone. Make the "Windows key" a changeable screen (LCD?) and you can put whatever you want there!
In the mood to smash the shit out of Darl's face? Want to give Bill Gates what he deserves? Want to break a window? Didn't get that raise - picture of your PHB! Wife fucking a nerdy guy than you - picture of nerd #2 hanging from his SCSI cable!
I can finally get rid of that nasty sand-filled balloon to relieve stress! *hugs Darl key*
Is that it doesn't work with the Windows keyboard driver, so there's no way you can use Windows with it! Great for family and friends you're trying to get to use linux.
Is there a hotkey for First Post?
[sig]you really dont want the answers, trust me[/sig]
when do I get my OS/2 Warp keyboard with the special OS/2 key to replace the windows one?
If the wife is "fucking a nerdier guy than you," I'd hope that you'd do more than change the appearance of the windows key...
Is it just me, or are Hot Keys for thinks like Copying and Pasting really over rated, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-X, etc. (And the Linux Equivilants, i'm a Windows user) are subconcious to me at this point, rather than rooting around for some key at the top of the keyboard.
Kummer has already found some users keen to simply replace the Windows start key with Tux.
Oh come on. That's just petty, isn't it?
Why don't they also include PDF/OO.org copies of the Linux User Guide (mentioned on /. recently and found at http://www.iosn.net/training/end-user-manual/) in order to create a real "Linux starter kit"?
At that price, and in such small production numbers, I have a feeling that the workmanship is shoddy and these 'enhancements' are barely workable on any Linux system but SuSE.
Does the Windows key really piss you off *that much*?
I'd have to dig out some old magazines, but I'm positive there was a company that used to sell keyboards with a Tux-key instead of the Windows key. Wish I could remember the name though.
...but can you cut/copy/paste anything else on Linux. Say, images?
Well, they might as well move it to the correct place if they are doing a Linux keyboard!
Was this the only article without a picture?
t ml
http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS8233268776.h
i thought we weren't linking to zdnet anymore. ah well. don't really think the linux market is big enough to support a specialized keyboard either. sure it's nice, but how many people that use linux are going to shell out the dough for a new keyboard. i would think the majority of linux users are just running servers anyway, and really don't need a new keyboard with special functions on it...
Yeeesssss. It's the only damn thing I really want from a keyboard. Oh, and an Undo key. Oh yeah, and a foot pedal controlling the capitalization. And get rid of the Alt key. And the Escape, while your at it.
and SCO Wins a Lawsuit against IBM
Here is a question for you. Have you ever gone to a store and seen a product and wondered if that store has ever sold one of those?
... get a free OS?
:-)
"In addition, the keyboard comes with a CD including a special edition of SuSE Linux 9.1 from Novell"...
How long till we get special versions of RedHat or SuSE free with our breakfast cerial.....
I think most Linux users (espeically here) know well enough how to get their Windows keys and hot keys to do just about whatever they want.
"Linux users don't want to have a Windows button. Three years ago we had a request from a customer to produce specially made keyboards which replaced the Windows logo with Tux, but had absolutely no extended functionality," he said.
I guess that's what you're really paying for.
Well, it must be mine of course, but yawn. Why are they going to so much trouble? Anyone who wants linux enough to buy swag for it doesn't need a bundled CD to get it. And anyone who cares enough to find custom keyboards doesn't need your buggy and probably non-GPL'ed software to remap keys...it's something already included in the kernel.
But, I could be wrong. It could be that the only thing holding my grandmother back from linux on the desktop is that her keyboard is only Windows compatible.
adam b.
I sit here typing on a Linux Keyboard (a Linux Cool Keyboard, to be precise). No hardware hotkeys, but any linux user worth his/her salt can program their own.
Although the only OS loaded on my computer is Linux (of the Gentoo flavor), I can't find a keyboard more comfortable than the Microsoft Natural keyboard. Just puting tux keys in the place of the MS logo isn't going to make me buy a keyboard.
why dont you make a keyboard, with like all the normal keys and none of that stupiod windows key crap, let alone 50 other buttons to open my mail client, browser and 48 other apps i dont even use.
I want an old school 101 or 102 keys keyboard
42
The entire package will retail for $49. Initially, Cherry will market the products in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the U.K. before expanding into other European countries, according to Vogl. He was unable to say when the product will be available in the U.S. And yet they offer the price in dollars.
:o(
If this turns out to be a crappy keyboard that Linux users don't want... are they going to conclude that there's no Linux user market again?
Cool! Now every operating system has it's own keyboard! But what's the big difference? I know tux is cute and all, but why buy a new expensive keyboard just to have a few free hotkeys and a CD of SuSE Linux which you can get for free online?
Great product but I don't see the company selling much for $50 keyboard that works ONLY with Linux. ;)
Why not ship the keyboard with software that detects the OS, and configures 'hot' keys based on said OS?
AFA the 'Windows' key, charge a few pennies more and ship w/iconic keys for all 'major' OS-es.
Or ship with spiffy EOTD (emoticon of the day) that the fashionistas can buy and traded (Pokeyboardmon).
Shut up.
I wonder if this is the first case of recieving a pack-in operating system with the purchase of a keyboard? Seems kind of backward if you ask me... but I guess stranger things have happened. ;)
-Vendal Thornheart
way cheaper to make a Tux sticker and put it on your keyboard and map your own keys.....or just use a ThinkPad like I do--no Windows key to look at.
Don't people understand that the major innovation of the Internet was interoperability? Web developers with their Java and Flash and "Designed for MSIE 600x800 with JVM 1.4.2ab only" web sites misssed the entire feat of the Internet: a globally compatible worldwide network. Then Microsoft took this mindset to the next level by trying to put a "Windows key" on the keyboard, as if putting proprietary crap in a universal Human-Computer interface was somehow a good idea. It was a horrible idea when Macintosh did it, and it's a horrible idea now. People aren't supposed to have to re-learn interfaces: that's the whole point! That's why the Internet was successful in the first place!
The Linux community is supposed to be the people who "get it". We're supposed to be the leaders. And now we're putting out a dedicated keyboard for an Operating System that doesn't even have a standardized distribution?
I suppose this is to be expected, given as we have spent the last eight years failing to even standardize on a single window manager.
If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
Cherry's G80 series of keyboards is considered by many (including me) to provide the best tactile expierience since the old IBM-keyboards with click, but without the weight and noise.
All other cherries I ever tried to type (G81 and G83) gave me the expierience that they wanted to break my fingers...
Will there be an Any key?
To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
ohh, and they make solar powered wireless keyboards and mice.
is that sorta like the solar powered recharge craddle for Palm Vs? (foot note in manual for the pda: "don't leave in direct sunlight")
I prefer this one.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
I realize I always plug these when an article on keyboards comes up, but... you can have what you want (subject to you writing a few macros for some keys) with one of these:
Kinesis
Customizable... programmable... pedals... and an exciting chunky shape! I use the pedals for ctrl and programming punctuation, though, not caps.
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
Read the article carefully. That's a picture of the solar powered widget, not the upcoming widget. But here's hoping they look similar...that thing's cool.
adam b.
Amazingly enough, the windows key works just fine in linux. It's not essential at all that it have a picture of tux on it.
You should have submitted it then. Do you have any idea how this place works???
However I don't see why keyboards can't just come with different caps that you press onto the keyboard. Customise those Windows and function keys.
:D
Hell, we could even have funny ones like an "any" key
The hot keys are configured for the Linux operating system and desktop applications, simplifying actions such as cutting, copying and pasting text, and moving between Web pages...
I'm not really sure what the appeal is, or why anyone would bother. I already have a "Linux Branded" keyboard from Penguin Computing, and the *only* difference is a nifty penguin on the windows key. I wouldn't have gone out and bought the keyboard, it looks and feels identical to the "Windows" keyboard I had before it.
More to the point, why on earth would a Linux user need a copy + paste button? Copy = drag over the words, paste = middle click. Also, forward and back are the simplest mouse gestures in both Konqueror and Firefox, both just a click and then drag right or left. It looks like Cherry didn't investigate their target very well, before coming up with this idea.
I'm certainly all for branded stuff, but when the item is as generic as a ps2/usb keyboard, whats the point? The last thing that the manufacturer needs is more "tested on xx platform" hardware that only a portion of the computer users would even think about buying. (Yes, LITE-ON, I'm talking to you! WinXP CD-RWs??!)
At least the war on the environment is going well
Who needs letters on their keyboard? Pah! Truw Linuc nerds don't need legemds on our keybosrds,,,
What exactly is this "Windows" key they speak of? Is that what they call it when they put that funny looking icon on the meta key?
(They keyboard I want...get rid of any logo on that key and label it "meta". And dump the caps-lock too. Put control there instead. I despise caps-lock...)
How's this for ironic...
i opened the article. there was an advertisement showing a man wearing a tie with tux on it. i thought "cool" and went googling for tux ties. i found a site selling them. then as i was looking through their selection of stuff, there was the very same keyboard for sale! cha-ching!
so here's a link:
http://www.getdigital.de/index/0x55/lng/2
In Soviet Redmond, software programs you!
... you could always get a Doom3 Z-board.
Which leaves me in a dilemma - which keyboard do I use to play Doom3 on Linux?
Is this the keyboard? because it doesnt seem to have extra keys. But it does have the tux logo and its from cherry.
Mouse powered Chips, Open source Processors and Lego
I hope the hot keys are mapped to usefull functions such as:
tux key + M + S = email Bill Gates hate mail
That would definitely make prolonged Emacs sessions a bit more comfortable...
(I suppose a cokebottle key would be out of the question :)
Never mind Spamassassin. When's Spammerassassin coming out?
Warning: do not buy this: It's a Linux-only keyboard! Buying it will lock you into that platform for the lifetime of your keyboard! OS lock-in is eviiiiiiiiiiiil!!!!!!!!!11one
I *might* if it was a US layout and it was illuminated. but not at 100 clams or anything, even 50 is pushing it for a keyboard. For 50$ you can get a decent used PII complete bundle some places. I just scrounge IBM clickers whenever I find them now. Always liked closer to a mechanical typewriter-feel keyboard, it's what I learned on. I still suck at typing, but that's beside the point, still like the feel. Can't stand mushy squishy feeling keyboards. Gives me the buckwheats and stuff.
Anyway, it's still nice to see more linux centric devices hit the market, it will only get better as time goes on.
Why not just get rid of the Windows logo on the key and put in something generic and OS neutral?
And no, I don't mean the same thing as these ridiculous "LCD key" or "changeable key" posts. I mean just put a picture of a window or something on there. That'll fit in fine for Windows and for Linux and for any other OS. (That key is often used on UNIX machines for window manager control these days - so a window is still a good icon to put on the key.)
Seriously. Change the graphic to a rectangle with a double line along the top. Bang, instant generic key that makes everyone happy.
I hope this keyboard has an internet button like Compaq's keyboards do! Finally the internet could be coming to linux!
I'm browsing at default level, and I see this.
:-)
/. would be a better place.
Why? Because somebody modded it +1, Insightful.
If more mods had enough sense to mod up interesting posts like this one,
The IBM model M keyboard is all you need when it comes to DVORAK. The keys are all identically shaped and therefore moveable from position to position. Plus the keyboard doubles as a great machine gun impersonator. Rat, tat, tat...
"He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
Which is actually annoying if you're using a keyboard without a Windows key. I had to reprogram Darwin to get the Left-Alt to work the same way (and have to keep updating it every time I get a point-point release of OS X in a Software Update.)
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Saw Redhat in a box (9 CD's) at Office Depot, $99. Do you think its worth loading on an old e-machine?
The hot keys are configured for the Linux operating system and desktop applications, simplifying actions such as cutting, copying and pasting text, and moving between Web pages.
Seriously, who uses all the special hot keys on recent keyboards? Do they really "simplify actions"? They are usually placed on top of all keys, which means you have to move your hands all the way to the top to, for example, copy or paste text. On the other hand, ctrl and c keys are conveniently placed around the letter keys.
Even my standard 104-key keyboard has keys that I use very rarely. For example: Printscreen/SysRQ is useless (unless you are a kernel hacker and you are using it as kernel magic key). I haven't used Pause/Breakkey since the days of DOS. Same goes for entire numeric keyboard, but I believe it can be useful for people that need to enter a lot of numbers. And I won't even mention Windows/Tux/whatever and menu keys (which I removed with a screwdriver on some of my keyboards anyway).
If you ask me, the perfect Linux keyboard has a bigger, more convenient space bar and enter keys (They are certainly the most used and should be as large as possible. They are ridiculously small on some modern keyboards.). Forget the numeric keyboard and the useless keys I mentioned above. Oh and of course, remove the capslock key and place the control key in the proper place.
I've used a few keyboards with hotkeys and honestly the only time I've thought they gave any advantage was when I changed my "calculator" button to play Kraftwerk's "Pocket Calculator" ("I'm the operator with my pocket calculator! When I press a special key, it plays a little melody!").
Stick to Tux, buy a tuxsticker !
Who the heck cares about hotkeys or penguin keys -- Does it have the ctrl and esc keys in the right place???? My left pinky is tired from having to reach so far.
A lot of keyboards just use permanent stickers for special keys. This way they only have to make one keyboard and then they ship it to mulitple countries. Why not just leave the stickers off the extra keys and supply sets for the user to put them on?
-truth
I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...
No, really.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Does anyone actually bother to use those special hotkeys on their keyboards? I had such a keyboard, but you needed to run special software in order for those hotkeys to do anything, and most of them were useless anyhow. There were controls to interface with a crappy music program, buttons that would bring up IE and Outlook express and one button that you could program to run a single .exe file. The small benefits didnt' seem worth having an extra proram runnning in the system tray.
My blog
Throw in a keyboard AND an opportunity to demonstrate that consumers will purchase hardware designed for non-Windows systems... I'm there!
Perhaps even twice!
a picture is worth a thousand words. how about showing us at least the image of the blueprint.
You need people like me so you can point your fuckin fingers and say, "That's the bad guy." So what that make you? Good?
1. Go to local hardware store
2. Buy one sheet of 220 sandpaper
3. Sand off the windows logo
4. Use paint/sticker/nothing to replace logo
4. ???
5. Profit!
Stupid meme...
Remap your keyboard with xmodmap, and learn how to type without looking at your keyboard. In most keyboards, it is quite easy to rearrange the keys.
I have a mix between a happy hacking keyboard (ctrl in the right place and no CAPS LOCK), and norwegian dvorak, although I am Danish. Also, I have rearranged some of the other keys. That also keeps others from using my computer.
!rotinom siht ni kcuts mI
Yeah, I remember when 104 keys on a keyboard was more than enough for anyone. The problem is that more an more keys get thrown onto keyboards and more and more of them are getting unused "legacy" keys.
:) Believe me, I never hit the key on the wall by accident.
Although its been years since I've used windows, I remember back in that dark time of my life where I would be using VIM to write code or whatever and I would invariably hit the "Windows" key instead of control with some other key and I believe that the "Start" menu thingy would pop open, thus taking my keyboard focus to the "Start" menu instead of my editor.
Needless to say, after the umpteenth time that I did this, I promptly took a screwdriver and pulled the damned key off of my keyboard and shoved it in a whole in the wall that I drilled
KISS (Keep it simple stupid). If you are unable to interface with your computer with less than 80 or so keys, something is very, very wrong.
This seems like the classic misunderstanding of your market. My cut-and-dry view.
1. Market: People who abhor the Dell keyboards that have 10 buttons for shopping and other keyboards filled with other useless crap.
2. Product: Keyboard filled with useless crap.
A better idea would be one with some fully customizable hot keys but with an emphasis on monitoring -- maybe a keyboard with some LCDs monitoring temperature, disk usage, etc. so precious screen space isn't used. Now that I would consider buying.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
Does this thing has mechanical springs à la IBM Model M?
If not, and if I can't get a Brazilian layout, I have no use for it.
Leandro Guimarães Faria Corcete DUTRA
DA, DBA, SysAdmin, Data Modeller
GNU Project, Debian GNU/Lin
Perhaps the Linux keyboard has special keys for cutting and pasting both PRIMARY and SECONDARY selections.
I've been using the Happy acker Lite 2 for about three or four years.
I'd used lots of keybords before it and went through about one a year. They'd be difficult on my hands (no feedback) and they'd be hard to clean.
I even bought one of those old IBM keyboards upon Roblimo's recommendation, but it died in a week after I spilled a drink on it.
The Happy Hacker is small, but is a full size keyboard. It has a very pleasant feel (good click, but not too hard), light, and very rugged. It's also very easy to clean. Though it's expensive at about $70-$80, other specialty keyboards are more, and I've found the HH keyboards to be so rugged that they've paid for themselves.
I consider a keyboard in the same way that a waiteress might consider a good pair of shoes- it's something I'm spending my day on, I want it to be comfortable.
I would rather they kill the Hotkeys and Bring back the Quadruple-Bucky Space Cadet Keyboard.
Cherry usually makes excellent keyboards, but this key-for-everything mindset just mystifies me. Logitech seems to have the same disease. Perhaps it's the typical consumer more-is-better mindset, but you'd think Cherry would realize the average linux user is FAR from the typical PC consumer.
I wish they'd make something like the Happy Hacking keyboard -- which I am pretty happy with but it appears to only have ~ 2-3 key rollover which is problematic at high typing speeds. Cherry usually has N-key rollover, which would be very attractive to me in the same form factor/layout as the happy hacking KB.
...but does it have a Meta key labeled as a Meta key?
I have a Touchstream LP keyboard http://fingerworks.com/lp_product.html . Its essentially a big touchpad with labels for all the keys and gestures that work like hotkeys. The interesting thing about it from a techy point of view is that all the magic is done in firmware right on the keyboard. No drivers needed, so its very OS independant; even the firmware update utility is written in Java to maximize portability. It might jack the cost up a bit, but I'd like to see more peripherals with firmware-based functionality.
The future doesn't have to be like the past -- http://www.si
Neither the linked article nor the desktoplinux.com article have said whether or not this keyboard will be wireless.
It seems rather useless to me if it has a wire.
but it doesn't have control, alt or del keys - oh wait - we don't need them...
do not have annoying keys either and are still worth an investment. My G80-1000HFD (1 key == 1 switch) that came with the 286 will not be replaced !
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
How about a wireless ball mouse, where the ball movement charges up the mouse, so you never need batteries?
~D
This sig has been enciphered with a one-time pad. It could say almost anything.
The Ctrl key is in the placd God intended. Get the rubber-dome model for work to spare your coworkers the noice, get the buckling spring for home.
Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
So I'm in Ireland on a project right now... how many shall I bring back for you guys?
Simply the best keyboard ever made. Unfortunately they're becoming hard to find these days.
Whats important in a keyboard is the feel....
:-)
Nothing else....
do YOU look at the keyboard when you type?
for 30squid, that keyboard betta be a NICE CLICKY one like those old IBM keyboards...
None of that spongy rubber sheet business...
Having said that, if I am shopping for a kbd, and there are two nice cherry click keyboards, one with a windows logo, the other with Tux... well there is no choice...
I will consider moving to a new keyboard when my ol' IBM PS/2 Keyboard dies. As in, when they pull it out of my cold, dead hands.
In God we trust, all others require data.
I'll be sticking with my trusty IBM Model M thank you very much. Can't beat $5 at the thrift store for the best keyboard I've ever typed on. There is a company that makes these type of keyboards, although their name slips my mind, and you can get them customized any way you like if you have the cash.
E pluribus unum
Give me a keyboard with mechanical keys and 24 function keys like the keyboards you get with an IBM 3270...
Blearf. Blearf, I say.
There are geeks who think Windows sucks,
;o)
And won't pay B. Gates the bucks,
Screams geek expertise:
"Kill all Windows keys!"
Switch to a keyboard with Tux!
Sorry - I don't know what came over me
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
Perhaps you should purchase a Mac keyboard.
I assume you can afford one, if you can afford a Mac.
Quit relying on the invisible hand of the moderators and browse at 0, then.
Sleep is futile.
ok, sterio type. Please don't flame me. It's still funny. Have a laugh... even if your german. But if you are german, please don't laugh it public.. it's frightening.
I would rather be ashes than dust!
What I really want to know is if the Ctrl key and Caps Lock are in their "correct" positions, i.e. reversed from your typical desktop computer. It makes sense that they should be switched, since you use the Ctrl key a lot more often than the Caps Lock key, and putting it to the left middle, rather than the left bottom, makes it more accessible.
Cyde Weys Musings - Scrutinizing the inscrutable
And for that matter, get rid of Caps Lock too. Those keys have really overstayed their welcome. And use some of those 29 extra keys as modifiers. It's time the impoverished Linux users discovered the joys of "Hyper" and "Super."
In the great CONS chain of life, you can either be the CAR or be in the CDR.
Likewise, "Print Screen" has been replaced with the much more useful Nethack launch script key.
I am still mourning after my ancient mainframe terminal keyboard some 25 years ago, which had function keys numbered from F1 to F35.
We were all shocked in the house when the first original IBM-XT box came in with only ten function keys on the left side. My boss said looking at it: This gadget is unusable, it has no F15 (his favourite 'save' key). So I got it on my table.
There you are, staring at me again.
a rotary pot (sliders haven't been used on real hardware for 20 years!)
what?!
what?!
what?!
If YOU cannot discern between humor and being insightful I will go out on a limb to say that it is YOU that has serious issues.
/now THAT'S funny yuo n00b!
....in Soviet Russia.
One thing that would be nice is to have an install set-up the keyboard and mouse mapping into X. Hopefully, they will start other companies to making easy installs into linux.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Who modded this flamebait? How the hell is this flamebait?!?
If you don't get it (it's more subtle and clever than it appears-read the grandparent), then don't mod it.
Sheesh.
Save some money and hop on over to Cheapbytes, they have a wonderful linux keyboard with the Tux key. Just remember, we don't need no steenkin hot keys.
0 92 .html
http://cart.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart/1000010
Make America grate again!
- Let TAB be tabular space and make a new "Next field" key.
- Let ENTER be line break and make a new "Expand selection widget"
- Make an "OK" key to accelerate form/dialog-box submission and a "Cancel" one too
- Make some "Zoom in"/"Zoom out"/"Scroll"/"Pan"/"Bank"/"Tilt"/etc and free the cursor-keys/PgUp/PgDn
- ...
- Write a CUA-addendum with specifics and examples
I don't need a key to open my email client. It opens when I log on.:-) = I am happy
:^) = I am happy with my big nose
C:\> = I am happy with my OS
Erm, I can't help but thing that this stinks of 'hollow marketing plan' In case anybody doesn't know, all keyboards, reguardless of language layout, are made on the same production line. The keyboards are made blank, and then the legend on the individual keys is laser-etched onto the surface (yes, anybody who didn't know this, feel free to bend over towards your keyboard, and scratch around with your fingernail). So, in effect they have taken a keyboard, perhaps an existing one, perhaps a new design, and set up a laser-etch pattern which includes a penguin as opposed to a windows logo. all of about 5 seconds work. They don;t even need a new production line. So I predict that this will either be a preexisting keyboard with the aforementioned 5 second alteration, or a windows version of this keyboard will be available within 6 months.
#include "disclaimer.h"
I used to have a Linux CoolKeyboard. It was great. It had a cool fold down top to keep it clean. Of course I destroyed it when I spilled an entire glass of beer into it. It's amazing well it could hold that much beer. It basically was a normal 104 key keyboard with two Tux keys and a Linux key.
These days I just use a USB Sun Type 6 keyboard on my PC. It's pretty nice.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
...and what?!
What's with everyone who's complaining about the control and capslock keys being in the wrong places or the @ symbol being where the " symbol should be or whatever?
Has nobody ever heard of xkeycaps?
The first thing I do when I use a new keyboard is whip xkeycaps out, map the keys to whatever operations I want (including the above switches) and never look back (or down) again.
Just because there's a symbol printed on a key doesn't mean that key has to produce that symbol!
Am I the only one who thinks it's sad that we are so geeky that a sentence that has both "cherry", "best tactile experience", and "all other cherries...wanted to break my fingers" doesn't even draw a single snicker?
Besides the special labeling is there much advantage between this one and one from Logitech, MS, or any other keyboard maker. At work I use an MS Multimedia keyboard that has Cut, Copy, Paste, Music, etc. If I didn't like the key assignments, I could always reassign them. I'm sure Logitech has something comparable. The limiting use is that most of these fancy keyboards require special software and drivers to use the exteded keys in Windows. To be used in Linux, somebody has to write the software because the companies haven't done so themselves, and it will be a cold day in hell before MS writes Linux software. Is the only advantage of this keyboard the fact that the company has written software for Linux?
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Why LCD? Just give the buyer a bag of 10 keys with instructions on how to pop in the chosen keys.
The 5 pairs of keys would be:
Linux
BSD
Windows
Apple
Cherries
Get a free ipod.
Everyone knows the sterotype that only dancers drink Tab. But did you know that the cola was originally marketed almost exclusively for that market? In fact, "Tab" is an acronym for Total All-around Best -- an informal assessment used in the judging of many ballet competitions. In addition, Tab was the first of the no-calorie diet drinks and this was meant to appeal to ballerinas who must keep their weight within strict limits.
Model M
My IBM 42H1292 keyboard is the only one I will use. My noisy clacking will destroy your puny membrane switches!
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
Doh! I think i meant `consumer` rather than `real` - it was audio editing I was thinking about when I wrote that (I've used a Pro-Tools surface).
unless it has an ANY key.
Uhhh...how exactly is this "offtopic"?
that post is flamebait and you know it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can really increase my geek karma with one of these - along with my 'got root' t-shirt, 'WTF?' hat, and 'I [heart] TUX' bumber sticker!
---
Those who can, do
Those who can't, teach
Those who don't know how, supervise
+2, Funny.
Dear GOD, why - today, of all days - do I not have modpoints?
You, sir, have made my day.
Ce n'est pas un vrai mouvement de robot!
While I can use a normal keyboard for some length of time (like my laptop), I couldn't do it all the time.
I like my MS Natural Elite keyboards.
For me, the most kick-ass keyboard would have the feel of an Apple Pro Keyboard and it would be bent and shaped more ergonomically like the MS Natural. It wouldn't even need to be as pronounced a bend like the Natural, just a little something to keep my hands happy.
And no "Internet" or "Cut/Copy" or other stupid buttons. Ugh, I hate that crap. CTRL-C/V/X is fine. I don't even use the F-keys except to get into my BIOS. Take 'em off too!
You're missing the point. The point is that such interesting and thought-provoking comments should be modded high enough so that everyone can read them, even the people who don't want to browse at -1 or 0.
Sadly, lots of good posts such as the one in question fly under the radar or get unfair moderation.
The keyboard I use (see my sig) has no Windows logo (it has "Start" instead), and it has dedicated keys for copying, cutting, pasting plus a couple of other useful functions ("app" and "shuffle"). These are set up for Windows but a Linux system can be mapped to use them if it's not already.
Plus, the keyboard in the article is too big (IMHO). My keyboard is much smaller and better suits a minimalistic "Linux" aesthetic.
Oh - and it switches between Qwerty and Dvorak.
Read my keyboard review.
Will it run Linux?
being championed by M$ in partnership with content providers: Stores your credit card information and adds a key marked "Pay now".
Weight:
about 1188 g (without packaging)
baout 2200 g (with packaging)
Well.. it's a lot more than copy and paste, given the weight!
First I wanted to be a chef. Then I wanted to be Napoleon. My ambitions have continued to grow ever since.
Linux users get by just fine with the current keyboards.
They should have invested those research resources in comming up with a "xkill" equivalent key for the windows versions. I sure feel the need for one.
...as a condom machine in the vatican.
Seriously, you can take any keyboard that has extra keys and map them to whatever you want, whatever kind of symbol is on the keys. I happily use the 'windows key' as an extra meta key for emacs...
If a train station is a place where a train stops, what's a workstation?
Unicomp bought it from Lexmark/IBM.
At a former workplace, I got a VA Linux workstation. The keyboard had a penguin key instead of a Windows key. I turned the keyboard over, and molded into the plastic was "Designed for Windows 95".
I would like to get this keyboard for my Linux partition, but how would it work on Windows? What about us duel booters? I don't use the windows key at all, but would the thing be functional? For those who saw the picture, this thing looks pretty sharp and is actually something I might want to get.
Isn't this just as effective as using xkbd with any dell/logitec/etc keyboard that has hotkeys?
What I really want is a keyboard that's smart enough to record and play back key sequences. I know that most window managers can handle this and I know I can write a script for most things, plus alias does a great job but sometimes I just want to record some keys that I'm going to use on multiple systems in multiple environments and I don't want the window manager or shell to know anything about it.
..features 29 hot keys. The hot keys are configured for the Linux operating system and desktop applications, simplifying actions such as cutting, copying and pasting text..
Yes, and this being X, where no two apps ever seem to agree on basic GUI principles, you need 29 keys for cutting, copying and pasting.
"hmm, I'm using Mozilla so it's f26 and f19 for Copy and paste, now I'm switching to Xterm so it's now f31 and f22.."
Where will it all end? Why not just a vanilla 'NIX keyboard...or, or,....just one big dial like and iPod?
For 10 years now most new devices are plug and play. When will they get round to making keyboards that are truely pnp??
Auto detecting the country code for the keyboard would be a start nevermind multimedia and internet keys.
Type 4, 5, or 6 keyboard? Sun keyboards have had these for ages. Pic here. Stop, Again, Props (y0!), Undo, Front, Copy, Open, Paste, Find, Cut. Yeah it makes the keyboard a bit bigger, but if you must have them...
The latest keyboard innovation (read annoyance) seems to be the F-Lock key. Every time the PC boots up, it defaults to "Off", so the F keys don't work and I have to turn it on every frickin' time. Microsoft introduced this last year, but the bug has bitten Logitech, too. Hopefully this madness won't last into the next season.
:-(
Wish they sold better keyboards here in AU
Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD]
But I just have to know, how often to your boots duel? Do they get hurt a lot? What are their weapons of choice?
:)
Oh wait, I guess you meant "Dual Booting?", never mind.
Will it run under Windows?
This one looks fine, but I'd add a LCD display over the numeric pad. It'd have to work as a calculator, or it could be taken over by the computer to show the load average or something else.
There's no standard, so the closest you can get is "middle mouse button."
Zzzzzzzz. "Add this to my keayboard!" "Don't add this to my keyboard!" Geeez. Leave the keyboard alone, think: Make one simple 101 keyboard with a socket in it, make add ons with more or less keys that plug into the vanilla keyboard. Those who like it simple just buy the keyboard, others can buy a different add-on every Christmas. How hard is that? It's even fucking profitable!
I've always though having a winders key on every keyboard was a bit strange, it should be some universal icon; but I supposed the win icon has become that. regardless, if I bought a keyboard (instead of just liberating them from work) I would like to have a tux on it, since I only run linux and mac at home.
as for the 'hotbuttons' I fail to see that being very useful to linux users; most home users love them within their win world, but linux users are (generally) beyond that. still, if hotbuttons on keyboards that work under linux help folks like my mom use linux to check her mail, then I'd be happy!
CB
free ipod and free gmail!
What I don't get is why they still insist on forcing on users flat layouts? Do they WANT to give pain to their users? Flat (i.e. non-ergonomic) keyboards are a pain.
I use a Kinesis Maxim keyboard and you have no idea what a difference it can be, but even a Microsoft natural keyboard is a lot less painful than a flat layout
Oh, yeah, and to get a few mod points more... I also type Dvorak.
There are very few 'Average' Linux users. My a-typical Average PC User is Using Windows XP Home and has just Figured out the DVD-ROM is not a coffee cup holder.
You are absolutely correct. I long for the days when the only keyboard available was one of these.
They'd have to pry my IBM Model M from my cold death hands first.
Okay, it's true that I never hit the "Mail" key to pull up Evolution, or hit the "Web/Home" key to bring up Firefox. But if I need to answer the phone, I love hitting the "Play/Pause" key and having the music actually pause. And I really like being able to tweak the volume by hitting the Volume - and Volume + keys.
(Note: the "Play/Pause" key works with Rhythmbox, but not with Xmms. Xmms isn't aware of special keys, but Rhythmbox is GNOME-aware. I believe Muine will also recognize the special keys. Even in Xmms, though, the "Mute" key will at least silence my computer; of course Xmms will keep on playing.)
I also love hitting the "Calculator" key and having the calculator pop up. The problem is, I can't figure out how to make this work under GNOME 2.6; it worked great under GNOME 2.4, but no more.
The good thing about the extra keys is that you don't really need them, so you are free to bind them to be "system" keys rather than keys for doing something inside an application. I don't need the "Refresh" key, because it isn't hard to hit Ctrl+R in Firefox or Nautilus to get a refresh. But it's nice to be able to instantly silence my music without having to go find the app that is playing the music.
Hmm. I should bind JPilot to one of the special keys, so if I want to check my schedule or something I can just pop it up. I should figure out all the little apps I want to pop up frequently, and bind keys for them.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Typewriters put a tab key there. I'm inclined to make it an unmarked programmable key that doesn't do anything by default, but fattening up the adjacent keys to fill the space would make sense too.
Ctrl is very easy to reach on the bottom left, provided that you have a split keyboard. With a split keyboard, there is a bit of rotation that puts the Ctrl key back a bit.
Give me the Microsoft Natural split, duplicate keys for the middle (6YB), and that useless keypad chopped off to make more room for a mouse or to let me balance the keyboard in my lap better.
If you're actually using a finger tip to hit CTRL way down there, then I congratulate you on your flexibility!
In the late 80's, I went out of my way to use one specific keyboard (a clone of the IBM AT keyboard, with the Esc key moved to a sane place). But in 1990, I decided that the 101 keyboard was here to stay, and I decided to learn to use it rather than trying to have my own special keyboard everywhere I went.
I found it isn't hard to train yourself to use the Ctrl key exactly like a Shift key. You use your right pinky to hit the right Ctrl key when you want to press Ctrl+S (your left hand presses the S as usual). You use your left pinky to hit the left Ctrl key when you want to press Ctrl+I. All it takes is a slight change in your hand position; you can leave your index finger and middle finger on the home keys, so you can easily move your hand back after hitting the Ctrl key.
Also, Ctrl+Shift is really easy. You just change your hand position, and use your pinky to mash down both the Ctrl key and the Shift key, at the same time.
So, now I actually like having two Ctrl keys, one under each Shift key. And I'm much faster hitting a Ctrl key combination than an Alt key combination or a function key.
Note that my system leverages your touch-typing skills. If the Ctrl key is to the left of the A, "where it should be" as people say, then you will wind up having to do something unusual to hit Ctrl+A, Ctrl+Z, and Ctrl+Q (since the pinky of the left hand is hitting Ctrl, it can't also hit those keys). With my system, you use the same finger to hit the A in Ctrl+A as you always use when touch typing.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Why is this modded redundant? I'm browsing at -1, and this is the first mention of the 'any' key I have seen. Losers.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put all the modifier keys in the right place on this keyboard! PC keyboards don't jive well with Linux, because the layout IS NOT for Unix.
The quintessential features of a Unix box?
VI!
EMACS!
THE COMMAND LINE!
For these purposes the control and escape key positions SUCK on PC kbds. Do you know how painful it is to use emacs w/out the control key next to 'a'? How can you use Vi w/out the escape key where you find tilde nowadays!? For Bash--the Linux/GNU shell of choice--you can't do without excessive use of either the control or escape keys to script something up finesse!
So what do we do? Swap the keys around? I don't think so! Dude if you're gonna program something how can you have an essential key like tilde/grave up by the function keys? And the Backspace key! That's one of the keys you press most, and it's way up in the corner!
What we Linux users need is a kbd w/a Sun layout! Get a clue and check out the Sun keyboards!
As far as I'm concerned the best linux keyboard is the Happy Hacking keyboard. It's got all of these things (and a lap-compatible footprint to boot).
At least for us QWERTY non-believers...
not true if you want to switch between english keyboards and spanish language keyboards. and it would be nice to see where what keys are when you switch languages.
maybe i just need to learn how to use the spanish language keyboard. but it messes with me so i just switch the layout with setxkbmap everytime i need to write something with ~'s and crap.
What is a "Mac keyboard" as opposed to a USB keyboard? Do you mean an Apple keyboard? If so, can you point me at one that I actually like?
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
silly child.
They used to be like that. Back in the day. There were separate keys for 'Send', Carriage Return and Line Feed.
But then the computer came along and the teletype was obsolete.
(ever work on a 3270 or earlier terminal, now lets talk about thin clients)
True friends are hard to come by... I need more money. - Calvin
This is a Bad Idea(tm). The notion that keyboards must be OS specific is silly when you think about it. Sure, Redmond and Cupertino promote it, but that doesn't mean it's right.
Platform specific keyboards (Solaris, Mac) might make some sense, but multiple PC-x86 keyboards is loopy. Do I need two keyboards if I dual-boot? Three if I triple-boot? Will there be different Wyse terminals depending on which system you wish to connect to?
Just dump the OS logo and replace it with a generic menu key.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
Yes, that's a really cool idea, but that function key had better be bright red, with a little plastic mollyguard over it, locked. And it should take two people standing fifteen feet apart turning a pair of keys at the same time to unlock it.
I mean, Tab and Esc are right next to each other on the keyboard I use, and I occasionally insert tabs when I wanted to go back to command mode in vi. Can't imagine the fun I'd have if I meant to hit ~ and accidentally hit "reboot this machine and install linux immediately" instead.
:-)
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
It's all cosmetic anyway. I suspect (looks like) all that they've done is change a couple of the screen printed images on the keys and/or body.
If any of you complaining about key placement really want those suggested keys, then just read the man page for xmodmap. And that's just one way to do it. Go ahead knock yourself out, make the keys do whatever you want.
Now, give me a Data General Dasher keyboard. The cursor keys even made sense. Add to that the L1-L10 keys of the Sun and you can have the extra functions, including cut and paste in a convenient spot.
By the way Ctl-C and Ctl-V have meanings that precede cut and past and are still used in real OSs. Remember ctl-c is interrupt for running processes. Yes, this is linux and you can use stty to remap, but standardization has its place.
Besides control characters are just that characters, with a place in the ASCII (and other) code. Aren't Cut and Paste application functions?
True friends are hard to come by... I need more money. - Calvin
I'll be interested when they offer a split version. I may not like M$ but I love M$ split keyboards - nothing else makes my wrists feel better. Old style straight keyboards have my wrists locking up and feeling like crap withing minutes.
I have had a "Linux" keyboard for three years at least, with Tux where the Windows key would be and a "Linux tm" marked key between the right "Tux" and Ctrl keys. Very nice touch (in my opinion). I bought it from Linux Mall and is branded as "Linux Cool Keyboards."
------ The only greater hazard to your liberty than n politicians is n+1 politicians.
Cherry makes a bunch of POS equipment, so perhaps their manufacturing processes == a higher MTBF than your average $6 PC-104 keyboard.
For the applications I use Linux for, abridged and super-extended keyboards interest me greatly. Small, medium and large POS keyboards look cool, are programmable and often have physical keylocks.
But then, I've got a bit of a POS bias. ;)
Snickersnee3: Build your own 3-watt Luxeon Star headlamp from scratch
This was called the "Space Cadet" keyboard at MIT. Stanford had keyboards for SAIL with four shift keys: SHIFT, CONTROL, META, and TOP. MIT wanted to one-up Stanford. Hence this gadget.
You need more shortcut buttons on Linux/X; one for copy-by-Ctrl-C-method, one for cut-by-click-method, one for paste-by-Ctrl-V-method, one for paste-by-middle-button method, and so on. With so many incompatible clipboard mechanisms on X, you need lotsa shortcut buttons!
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
Badly designed, IE only web site. I'm guessing the product will not be excellent.
So, typing dir will actually yield ls -las?
but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
I haven't used Gnome or KDE in forever. Has anyone gotten around to, I don't know, just making the Windows key *work* in either environment? You know, a press pops open the foot/K menu, windows-R brings up Run, windows-E brings up KFM or whatever, windows-F brings up Find, etc etc etc? I mean, it's just keybindings, right? Can't be that hard, but evidently it was too revolutionary to do last time I checked (2000). Personally, I use the hell out of the Windows key... and hardly ever hit it by accident. :-)
And Cut, Copy, and Paste have been F-keys on various platforms for I don't know how long, but I've never met a person in my life who used them for that since c-C, c-X, and c-V became common. I mean, God, I use those keys about a million times a day, why the *hell* would I want them moved *away* from the main group of keys? Stupid.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Reminds me of the Bluetooth keyboard from Logitech.
You linked to an all-Flash site from /.? You're new here, aren't you?
psssh, vestax deserves what they get for their new website (which wasn't flash last i did research on their products)
Apple makes these things, called personal computers called Macintosh computers. Up until the G4 version of the Macintosh (or "Mac"), Apple used the Apple Desktop Bus for keyboard connections.
So yes, opposed to a USB keyboard.
An "Apple keyboard" is a keyboard manfacutured by Apple Computer Inc. Keyboards made for the Macintosh, therefore, would be called "Macintosh keyboards," or simply, "Mac keyboards."
Much like the usage of calling keyboards for (traditionally) Windows-based IBM PC clones "PC keyboards," "Windows Keyboards," or "keyboards that don't have a place for your one-button mouse to plug in."
As for one that you like, there are many to choose from.
Keyboard preferences are subjective. As much as you want me to, I cannot tell you what you like.
As far as Apple keyboards go, no, there are no Apple keyboards I like. So I bought a generic USB keyboard that I actually do like. One with a feel I like. One with a built-in trackpoint.
The only issue with this particular is the lack of a command key. Rather than use a keyboard I do not like, which you appear to feel I should on the grounds that you appear to believe that Apple users should plug ADB keyboards into their computers, even on computers that do not have ADB sockets, like practically every Apple computer manufactured in this millenium, I've decided to go for one I do like, and hacked Darwin to support it.
You may find that objectionable, I don't know. But for me, it is the better of the evils, especially those evils you offer as an alternative.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
That would be my solution, and a rather simple one at that. I wonder if I should scrape the windows logo off of my keyboard and get it custom silk-screened...
"I don't really care if they label me a Jesus Freak / There aint no disguising the truth!" - DC Talk
Has anyone noticed that there seems to be a conspiracy to change the standard key layout? What seems to be happening is that the six keys Insert Delete Home End PgUp PgDown are being rearranged and only five keys will remain, and one is becoming larger than the rest. Many of Microsoft's new keyboards have this new layout, and now Logitech seem to change too.
Tux, instead of the Windows start key and features 29 hot keys.
Exactly what I need... FYI I'm only using 3 of 6 hotkeys from my Logitech UltraX keyboard: Play/Pause, E-Mail and WWW.
My keyboard has no Windows key and I don't want one with a Tux, either. The location is in the wrong place for typing. I've tried a keyboard with a Windows key and the first thing I had to do was get rid of it; I kept hitting it instead of the shift key.
Big clumsy fingers I guess.
That sort of what I was thinking: rather than buying a keyboard like the one in the article, I could remove the Windows keys from the keyboard I have, sand off the Windows logo, and then paint on a Tux logo... I was thinking about making a stencil of Tux and spray-paint it on in black paint, which would be a quick solution but would not yield great results.
I don't want a picture of Tux on the key any more than I want a Microsoft logo. How about somebody make a keyboard with the word "Meta" printed on those keys (and "Menu" printed on that extra Windows key on the right).
This would help enormously for making manuals or telling people what keys to type over the phone or in an email.
The keys to bring up email are really stupid, too. Why are there not "OK", "Cancel", and "Help" keys? That would be enormously more user-friendly.
Standard Keyboard hooked up parrell port if you have one completely remaped and a little program that can remap it at a keypress(it can even remap the normal standard keyboard on the fly what is handy for playing games.
Yes it is hot key heven. Main reason to extened the number to terms past 11 ie F1-F11 consoles F12 X11 Frame buffer stuff does not work well on this setup.
Also 2 keyboard are handy to aviod key clash when game playing.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Cherry Keyboards is IE specific. I wanted to check if their keyboard software is available for download. The menu fails in Mozilla 1.7.2.
Also, the download link is dead.
Several other things indicate to me that these people seem to have NO technical knowledge whatsoever.
...then the one true acronym would be apropros again, with swap-over-USB.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Shiny! (-:
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Not to mention a larger spacebar.
... But not for one with 29 extra useless keys.
I think those windows keys are a rip-off. They stole valuable space from actually useful keys.
Unfortunately my old AT keyboard which was pre-windows keys (and probably pre-windows too) died due to drink spilling . I could never buy one again.
I would pay god money for such a more plain keyboard
-- Julien Pierre http://www.madbrain.com/blog
...dear Enter key: you will hereinafter transmit "Enter, 'echo', lock screen, lock keyboard, 'give my account J.ACT', sleep 1, reset Enter key to default, unlock screen, Enter, unlock keyboard". Sent to the console.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
It must be the drugs.
Why not go whole hog if you're going to use a broken keyboard?
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Whats most offensive lately is moving an extra set of keys (effectively useless keys, I might add) to the insert/home/pageup/pagedown/delete/end block and effectively throwing off the entire layout of that section rendering 20-30 years of standardized layout and familiarity out the window.
You used to be able to buy a cheap 5$ keyboard that had the standard layout, albeit a piece of crap, but it did the job. They're getting harder and harder to find. I couldn't even find one the last time I looked. There were no keyboards without at least 3 extra keys in addition to the windows keys, and this was at Fry's Electronics. Luckily I found a local shop selling old keyboards, and quality at that. I picked up several IBM Model-M PS/2 keyboards. Not as old as the AT style, but they are still over 10 years old and work perfectly. The keys are tactile and the layout is curved somewhat to make hiting the F-Keys easier. I got a few that make the loud clicking sound, and some of the quiet touch ones. They are both high quality keyboards, but I prefer the clicking noise :). Without a doubt these are the best keyboards I have ever owned and am aware of.
Check out this page that talks about them some. I think they sell them here. There's a review here, and a page of devoted model-m lovers here.
You should be able to pick them up used at a local used computer equipment shop, ebay, etc for under 20$ (I got mine for under 5$ a piece).
You end up relying on those hot keys and when you inevitably have to do something without using your non-standard wiz bang keyboard you end up slowing down and looking incompetent.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
I remeber using an IBM keyboard with a 3270 terminal that did have a "Next" field, it also has "Previous field" and tab was separate. These were both part of the numeric keypad - this was a data entry keyboard.
Is there a keyboard with _NO_ windows keys, and no hotkeys? I just want a 1-key hole between my alt and ctrl keys. Removing them is OK, but the right alt is a bit to the left, that's annoying sometimes.
--
Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
This is absolutely ridiculous.
The best keyboards I've ever had have 101 keys.
They look like this (only without the missing keys) or this. I hate these modern abominations with the flimsy construction, the weak candy-like keys, and all these stupid extra keys. They don't help me do my job-- in fact, all they ever do is get in the way. I've found myself trying to hit, say, PgUp or PgDown, and accidentally hitting a "Sleep" key or some crap like that. Luckily, the computer in question (my friend's) wasn't set up with the drivers (!!!) for that keyboard. (Am I the only one who finds the concept of a "keyboard driver" rather alarming?)
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
What we need are fully configurable keyboards. Put an LCD on every key. Then my keys can change with the font I'm using..I can replace the Windows key with anything I want..when I boot Knoppix-DE by mistake, I'll know where to find the keys to change the language..etc.
You misunderstand him.
Notice he said "up until the g4 version of the macintosh".
His point was there are several other choices in keyboards made for Macintosh-- e.g. Macintosh keyboards. Like Kensingon has a few, for example. In this case, like many of the keyboards he linked, they're USB. But they have a command key.
Likewise, many generic USB keyboards are usable on mac. Many have magic keystrokes that will turn the windows key or alt into the command key.
Maybe you should read the parent post again.