Re: Shortcuts (was: Accelerator and terminology guides?)

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Michael Rogers">

> But is it Unix first, or desktop first?

A desktop environment; but this means that intraconsistency is important.

> Unix doesn't have standard keybindings, so why not use the keybindings
> that are standard in other desktop environments, and are familiar to many
> users?

"Unix" per se doesn't, but many of the standard interfaces in Unix do.
You'll find that many shells implement similar line editing commands, many
programs borrow X editing commands and vi editing commands. These are the
familiar "Unix keybindings" I was referring to.

Liam has noted some breakages between gnome-terminal and common line editing
commands - some users won't use the gnome-terminal specifically because of
these problems.

> Is there anybody out there who is going to expect Ctrl-S and Ctrl-Q to
> perform flow control on a web browser? No. Is there anybody out there who
> is going to expect them to mean 'Save' and 'Quit'? Yes, hundreds of
> thousands of people.

Similarly, Alt-S and Alt-Q (s/Alt/Option/) are very well-recognised. They
also play well within our environment.

> Neither Unix nor X has standard key bindings.

You're right, X itself doesn't, but there are familiar keybindings between X
applications. Again, Unix itself doesn't, but there are familiar keybindings
between Unix applications.

If GNOME breaks these interfaces, simply to be the same as Windows, it's a
big problem in the working environment for long time users, as well as new
users unable to reap the benefits of a harmonious environment.

- Jeff

-- 
   "Everyone says they like Free Software - not everyone is ready to make   
  the tough choices to make it happen." - Maciej Stachowiak, GNOME Hacker