Re: [Usability] Using Control-Esc and Windows keys to access the start menu

[Lennart Borgman <lennart borgman 073 student lu se>]

Shaun McCance wrote:
> > Here's a list of the keybindings (and I refer to the Windows key the more
> > generic "Super" key)
> >
> > Super  		to open up the main menu*, also
> > Ctrl+Esc
> > Super+E 	to open the File Manager
> > Super+M 	to Minimize All, Show Desktop
> > Super+M+Shift 	to Maximize All
> > Super+F 	Search/Find tool
> >
> > I think there may have been additional keybindings added in
> > since Windows XP.
> > Super+U 	Utilities manager, a program to turn on accessibility
> > software like the
> > Mangifier, Narrator (text to speech) or on screen keyboard.
> >
> > Super+L 	to Lock Workstation
> > (I'm finding it mildly annoying since I have hit this accidentally a
> > couple of times.  It is still nowhere near as annoying as the stupid
> > keybinding to switch keyboard layouts since it took me years to
> > discover what was causing that bit of evil.)
> >     
>
> That's eight keyboard shortcuts being taken away
> from applications.  One of those uses Ctrl, which
> we try very hard to let applications use.  You'll
> notice nearly all of our current global keyboard
> shortcuts use Alt.
>   
I think a lot of users would benefit from Alans proposal (and I guess 
Alt+F1 shoudl be added too for the main menu?). I wonder if it is very 
important that those keybindings are beeing taken away? Since I do not 
know Gnome yet I would like you to ask you a bit more in detail:

- With Super do you mean what I call "windows keys"?
- What kind of applications actually use Super?
- Are those applications perhaps mainly programming IDE/editors?
- Can an application override the global binding of super?

I can see the need for super in certain applications (like Emacs) but in 
the case of MS Windows I use the windows keys inside Emacs as 
Emacs-meta. Outside the windows keys have their normal bindings. That 
arrangement is quite good for me since inside Emacs I use meta very 
often (of course).

What I am trying to say is that for a user with special needs such 
arrangement might be good enough.


I got some more ideas about how to solve this, but I will wait until I 
have got some respons on this.