...making Linux just a little more fun!
[ In reference to "Keymap Blues in Ubuntu's Text Console" in LG#157 ]
Kapil Hari Paranjape [kapil at imsc.res.in]
Hello,
The article on Ubuntu and Keymap blues is (IMHO) too heavy on opinion and too sparse in solutions. Here are some more detailed comments:
1. The author drops openSUSE because of KDE 4.1 and feels that openSUSE's support for Gnome is poor. So on to Ubuntu, only to worry about the console keymap. This is surely odd as one can use a terminal inside Gnome and configure its keymap using X or gconf or whatever. By the way the author talks about text-mode keymap when what is meant is the vt-console keymap. 2. The author could have consolidated the complaints about console-tools in one place and then gone on to explain how kbd is better and can be configured. Instead we have few hints on how to (for example) configure kdb to use the Dvorak keyboard (a problem stated at the beginning) and lot of complaints about differences between console-tools and kbd keymappings for function keys. 3. A sample keymap which is "sized down" and does fit the author's needs would have been a good attachment to the article. 4. The author ends with "However, to make them consistent, you need consensus." I would add that "To obtain consensus, you need a good consistent solution to all the woes of the Linux console." Is the author willing to propose such a solution?
A bit annoyed-ly,
Kapil. --
Rick Moen [rick at linuxmafia.com]
Quoting Kapil Hari Paranjape (kapil@imsc.res.in):
> The author drops openSUSE because of KDE 4.1 and feels that > openSUSE's support for Gnome is poor. So on to Ubuntu, only > to worry about the console keymap. This is surely odd as > one can use a terminal inside Gnome and configure its > keymap using X or gconf or whatever.
Those are not fungible.
I have no comment on your other criticisms, but the author struck me as making a vital point about conole keymaps having been given short shrift in Ubuntu. Working as a sysadmin, one finds that non-X11 console can be really crucial. It's important that text consoles not be messed up, and disturbing that a modern Linux distribution would not bother to get it right. (One would be driven to wonder what other *ix fundamentals they shipped in a malfunctioning state.)
Kapil Hari Paranjape [kapil at imsc.res.in]
hello,
On Mon, 08 Dec 2008, Rick Moen wrote:
> I have no comment on your other criticisms, but the author struck me as > making a vital point about conole keymaps having been given short shrift in > Ubuntu. Working as a sysadmin, one finds that non-X11 console can be > really crucial.
I agree that a working terminal emulation on the vt-console is crucial. However, I would be satisfied with a good dependable VT100 emulation.
I also agree with the author that a broken SysRq setup is going to cause pain when you least need it.
Kapil. --