They don't actually make keyboards, they are a reseller of high quality mechanical keyboards. One of the nice things about them is that they have a great selection of different brands, layouts and switch types, so it's kind of my go to place if I'm looking for a particular mech.
So far I've bought two Filco's and a RealForce from them which were shipped to me swiftly. I haven't had to use their customer service, but I've heard it's excellent. They're also active on keyboard forums like/r/MechanicalKeyboards and geekhack.org
If you are in the EU, I can really recommend them. In the US you'd probably find cheaper options if you have to include overseas shipping and taxes.
Not that I disagree with your love for Topre switches (I love my RealForce 87UW 55g), but that term is actually used for Cherry MX Red linear switches.
> If you're the old-school type, it's hard to go better than Das Keyboard [daskeyboard.com].
Das isn't bad, but they are hardly the best. They are a bit overrated because they were one of the first brands to gain recognition in the emerging mechanical keyboard market.
Personally, I really dislike their marketing. The Model S type name is clearly intended to position it next to the iconic Model M, which is undeserved and the brand name itself, DAS keyboard, presents it as THE keyboard to buy, which is pure hubris.
If you want to get technical, keyboard geeks often criticize Das keyboards because of the plank like construction that wastes more space than necessary, the superfluous media features, the lack of a tenkeyless variant, excessive branding, the flimsy ABS plastic keycaps and the shiny plastic case that attracts dust.
Other brands like Filco, Ducky or KÃL offer more ruggedness and old-schoolness, a higher variety of MX switches to chose from, and an optional TKL form factor.
I'm a bit of a mechanical keyboard nerd, I collect keyboards with all sorts of form factors and switches. I know it can be quite challenging to find your first mech, and to make sense of all the terminology, so I thought I'd write down a short guide to help you through your selection process.
First of all, you need to decide on a form factor. Generally speaking mechanical keyboards come in 3 form factors: full size, tenkeyless (or 87%) and 60%.
Full size keyboards of course have all 104 keys as defined in the ANSI keyboard standard. You should always look for a standard key layout without a weird shaped enter key or other weirdly placed or shaped keys.
Tenkeyless keyboards are like full size keyboards but with the numpad removed. This makes them more compact, meaning they take up less deskspace and more importantly, you can place your mouse in a more ergonomical position closer to the alphanumerical section of your keyboard where your hands will be most of the time, so when you grab the mouse, you have to reach out less far. This is by far my favorite form factor, and unless you do a lot of data entry and really need your numpad, I can heartily recommend this form factor. Most mechanical keyboards that are available in full size, also have a tenkeyless variant by the way.
As the name implies, 60% keyboards are ultra compact. They lack navigation and function keys that are found on a full size keyboard, but the functionality of those keys can be accessed via a second layer and an Fn modifier key. Some examples of 60% keyboards are the Happy Hacking Keyboard, the Poker II and the Ducky Mini. Given the fact that you are coming from a full size keyboard, I am hesitant to steer you towards a 60% keyboard.
Now once you have decided on a form factor, it's time to think about what kind of keyboard switch you like to type on. There are 3 major types of switches: the most common by far are Cherry MX switches. Less common and more expensive are Topre switches. Finally you have the classic buckling spring switch, as found on the Model M.
I'll start with the buckling spring. They are the grand daddy of mechanical switches. They were originally found in the iconic IBM Model M keyboard of the late 80s and early 90s. IBM has stopped making them long ago, but a company called Unicomp has acquired the patents and tooling, and they now produce Unicomp branded Model M's that are virtually replicas of the original IBM keyboard. This type of keyboard really is a typist's dream. Pressing the keys gives very solid tactile feedback and a loud (and I mean LOUD) thunky click. It sounds like a machine gun if you are typing on it at speed. If you share an office with other people, I would not recommend them. They are also not very good for gaming. This doesn't mean that you can't game with them, I have and a lot of people do, but other switch types just work better for that purpose.
Cherry MX switches are by far the most common. They come in many variants: linear, tactile, clicky, stiff, soft,... The color of the switch indicates the type. For a first timer, I would recommend that you only look at MX Blue and MX Brown switches.
MX Blue switches are clicky and give tactile feedback, a bit like buckling springs, but lighter and less loud. The same advantages and disadvantages apply: good for typing, bad for gaming, noisy.
MX Brown switches are a good jack of all trades switch: they don't click, but they do give some tactile feedback in the form of a slight bump that you feel when you press down a key. I've never found noise to be an issue with them, they're effective to type on even if it's a bit less satisfactory than a clicky switch, and gaming works well too.
MX Red is another common switch you find. They are a so called linear switch, which means that they are not tactile and n
What do you mean with short action? All cherry switches have about the same travel distance.
If you want to stay with Cherry switches, go for something with either mx brown or mx clear switches, and possibly add o-rings to mute the bottoming out sound [the sound the key makes when you reach the end of the downstroke]. Clears give more feedback than browns and I'm more accurate on them, but they are *very* stiff, it takes some getting used to.
Alternatively, you could go for something else than Cherry and get something with Topre capacitive switches (CM NovaTouch, RealForce or Happy Hacking Keyboard). They are really nice to type on, and quite silent by default. A lot of people swear by them over Cherry switches. The sound they produce is more of a muted tok than a loud clack. The major downside is that they are very expensive [for a keyboard], around $200 for a RealForce.
So what kind of stuff are you starting up in parallel then, that you gain so much in boot time?
I have not seen any practical gains here. Even on my second PC, an old core2duo with an SSD, I don't see any difference in boot time between Slackware, Arch and Mint. The longest parts in the process are definitely the POST and grub phase, but once Linux actually boots it just zips on to my boot screen in a few seconds.
If there is a difference, it's going to be in the magnitude of a second or so, and that hardly warrants a new init system in my opinion.
So what does it do if a service does not respond to a request to shutdown properly? Does it just pull the plug with a kill -9, because that seems like a terrible idea to me.
r/linux ?! You gotta be kidding me. That place is full of kids and insufferable assholes. Any comment that's remotely critical of systemd instantly gets downvoted by shills.
I like Arch and its minimalistic DIY philosophy, but that's despite the fact that it uses systemd, not because of it. As a matter of fact, if they got rid of systemd it would be close to my perfect distro.
At the end of the day, an init system only matters so much though. Once your system is booted, and your running your software, you don't see it anymore. The times that I did have to deal with systemd, it was a damn pain in the ass though.
Minimal footprint? The recommended installation method of Slackware is still to install "everything". From the installation guide:
If this is your first time installing Slackware, the "full" method is highly recommended. Even if this isn't your first time, you'll probably want to use it anyway.
This gives you a much bigger footprint than what Mint, Ubuntu or Arch give you by default.
Mind you, I love Slackware for its straightforwardness and simplicity in configuration, but footprint is not really a reason to recommend it.
Finally, I don't think that footprint matters a lot these days. What do I care if my distro takes up 5GB or 10GB... Sure I may not need all of the packages that are installed, but the convenience of having most commonly used libraries and programs at hand and not having to track things down as-needed is worth more to me than a few measly gigs of disk space.
A touch screen on a PC or laptop is a solution looking for a problem. It makes sense on mobile devices, because you don't have the luxury of decent input devices there, but a mouse and keyboard will always be superior if you have them available.
Slashdot Mirror
There was an F-18L with all the naval stuff stripped. Nobody wanted it.
> Germans know a thing or two about how to build stuff
Hate to break it to you, but the company that makes the Das Keyboard is based in Austin, TX and the keyboards are manufactured in China.
The only thing German in the keyboard are the Cherry switches.
They don't actually make keyboards, they are a reseller of high quality mechanical keyboards. One of the nice things about them is that they have a great selection of different brands, layouts and switch types, so it's kind of my go to place if I'm looking for a particular mech.
So far I've bought two Filco's and a RealForce from them which were shipped to me swiftly. I haven't had to use their customer service, but I've heard it's excellent. They're also active on keyboard forums like /r/MechanicalKeyboards and geekhack.org
If you are in the EU, I can really recommend them. In the US you'd probably find cheaper options if you have to include overseas shipping and taxes.
> cloud of boobs
Not that I disagree with your love for Topre switches (I love my RealForce 87UW 55g), but that term is actually used for Cherry MX Red linear switches.
> If you're the old-school type, it's hard to go better than Das Keyboard [daskeyboard.com].
Das isn't bad, but they are hardly the best. They are a bit overrated because they were one of the first brands to gain recognition in the emerging mechanical keyboard market.
Personally, I really dislike their marketing. The Model S type name is clearly intended to position it next to the iconic Model M, which is undeserved and the brand name itself, DAS keyboard, presents it as THE keyboard to buy, which is pure hubris.
If you want to get technical, keyboard geeks often criticize Das keyboards because of the plank like construction that wastes more space than necessary, the superfluous media features, the lack of a tenkeyless variant, excessive branding, the flimsy ABS plastic keycaps and the shiny plastic case that attracts dust.
Other brands like Filco, Ducky or KÃL offer more ruggedness and old-schoolness, a higher variety of MX switches to chose from, and an optional TKL form factor.
> There is probably some technique to re-attach it, but I haven't found one yet
This is called a bolt mod, and it's often done. Here's a howto: http://wiki.geekhack.org/index...
I'm a bit of a mechanical keyboard nerd, I collect keyboards with all sorts of form factors and switches. I know it can be quite challenging to find your first mech, and to make sense of all the terminology, so I thought I'd write down a short guide to help you through your selection process.
First of all, you need to decide on a form factor. Generally speaking mechanical keyboards come in 3 form factors: full size, tenkeyless (or 87%) and 60%.
Full size keyboards of course have all 104 keys as defined in the ANSI keyboard standard. You should always look for a standard key layout without a weird shaped enter key or other weirdly placed or shaped keys.
Tenkeyless keyboards are like full size keyboards but with the numpad removed. This makes them more compact, meaning they take up less deskspace and more importantly, you can place your mouse in a more ergonomical position closer to the alphanumerical section of your keyboard where your hands will be most of the time, so when you grab the mouse, you have to reach out less far. This is by far my favorite form factor, and unless you do a lot of data entry and really need your numpad, I can heartily recommend this form factor. Most mechanical keyboards that are available in full size, also have a tenkeyless variant by the way.
As the name implies, 60% keyboards are ultra compact. They lack navigation and function keys that are found on a full size keyboard, but the functionality of those keys can be accessed via a second layer and an Fn modifier key. Some examples of 60% keyboards are the Happy Hacking Keyboard, the Poker II and the Ducky Mini. Given the fact that you are coming from a full size keyboard, I am hesitant to steer you towards a 60% keyboard.
Now once you have decided on a form factor, it's time to think about what kind of keyboard switch you like to type on. There are 3 major types of switches: the most common by far are Cherry MX switches. Less common and more expensive are Topre switches. Finally you have the classic buckling spring switch, as found on the Model M.
I'll start with the buckling spring. They are the grand daddy of mechanical switches. They were originally found in the iconic IBM Model M keyboard of the late 80s and early 90s. IBM has stopped making them long ago, but a company called Unicomp has acquired the patents and tooling, and they now produce Unicomp branded Model M's that are virtually replicas of the original IBM keyboard. This type of keyboard really is a typist's dream. Pressing the keys gives very solid tactile feedback and a loud (and I mean LOUD) thunky click. It sounds like a machine gun if you are typing on it at speed. If you share an office with other people, I would not recommend them. They are also not very good for gaming. This doesn't mean that you can't game with them, I have and a lot of people do, but other switch types just work better for that purpose.
Cherry MX switches are by far the most common. They come in many variants: linear, tactile, clicky, stiff, soft, ... The color of the switch indicates the type. For a first timer, I would recommend that you only look at MX Blue and MX Brown switches.
Seriously, what's the big news here?
They have been pushing out bundled security patches every quarter for years with their Critical Patch Update program. This is just another CPU.
My advice: don't rely on specialized tools that claim to do the work for you, but learn how to do it by hand with adb and fastboot.
You know you can get custom keycap sets for it, right?
> I'll stick with Das and Ducky keyboards
Filco, Pokers and RealForce for me
What do you mean with short action? All cherry switches have about the same travel distance.
If you want to stay with Cherry switches, go for something with either mx brown or mx clear switches, and possibly add o-rings to mute the bottoming out sound [the sound the key makes when you reach the end of the downstroke]. Clears give more feedback than browns and I'm more accurate on them, but they are *very* stiff, it takes some getting used to.
Alternatively, you could go for something else than Cherry and get something with Topre capacitive switches (CM NovaTouch, RealForce or Happy Hacking Keyboard). They are really nice to type on, and quite silent by default. A lot of people swear by them over Cherry switches. The sound they produce is more of a muted tok than a loud clack. The major downside is that they are very expensive [for a keyboard], around $200 for a RealForce.
^^
Ignore the previous comment. I wasn't fuly awake yet. Of course you don't set the gateway in the resolver config.
Yes, that used to be the thing to do on most unix or unix-like operating systems.
So what kind of stuff are you starting up in parallel then, that you gain so much in boot time?
I have not seen any practical gains here. Even on my second PC, an old core2duo with an SSD, I don't see any difference in boot time between Slackware, Arch and Mint. The longest parts in the process are definitely the POST and grub phase, but once Linux actually boots it just zips on to my boot screen in a few seconds.
If there is a difference, it's going to be in the magnitude of a second or so, and that hardly warrants a new init system in my opinion.
So what does it do if a service does not respond to a request to shutdown properly? Does it just pull the plug with a kill -9, because that seems like a terrible idea to me.
... and then the systemd kids will just end up reinventing the same sort of hacks that they were complaining about in SysV scripts to begin with.
r/linux ?! You gotta be kidding me. That place is full of kids and insufferable assholes. Any comment that's remotely critical of systemd instantly gets downvoted by shills.
I think there is value in learning how other distros do stuff. It teaches you to not make certain assumptions.
I like Arch and its minimalistic DIY philosophy, but that's despite the fact that it uses systemd, not because of it. As a matter of fact, if they got rid of systemd it would be close to my perfect distro.
At the end of the day, an init system only matters so much though. Once your system is booted, and your running your software, you don't see it anymore. The times that I did have to deal with systemd, it was a damn pain in the ass though.
Minimal footprint? The recommended installation method of Slackware is still to install "everything". From the installation guide:
If this is your first time installing Slackware, the "full" method is highly recommended. Even if this isn't your first time, you'll probably want to use it anyway.
This gives you a much bigger footprint than what Mint, Ubuntu or Arch give you by default.
Mind you, I love Slackware for its straightforwardness and simplicity in configuration, but footprint is not really a reason to recommend it.
Finally, I don't think that footprint matters a lot these days. What do I care if my distro takes up 5GB or 10GB... Sure I may not need all of the packages that are installed, but the convenience of having most commonly used libraries and programs at hand and not having to track things down as-needed is worth more to me than a few measly gigs of disk space.
You forgot .local, .gconf, .gnome, .gnome2, .kde
What do you honestly expect them to do? Have you *seen* the kind of reprisals these assholes take against anyone who opposes them?
A touch screen on a PC or laptop is a solution looking for a problem. It makes sense on mobile devices, because you don't have the luxury of decent input devices there, but a mouse and keyboard will always be superior if you have them available.
I recently switched to Mint Cinnamon, but my Kubuntu setup before that looked pretty much like that SuSE screenshot.