National-specific models: so long
February 26, 2009 11:43 pm family, xkeyboard-configToday I committed into xkeyboard-config one important change: removal of national specific models: jp106, kr106, abnt2. These models consisted of 2 parts: keycodes and geometries.
Keycodes, as I found, could be safely merged into the default xfree86 and evdev keycode sets. So I just did that.
About geometries… Since they are just “visibility”, functionally useless – there is no point to keep models just for geometries sake.
So, these models are gone (of course, layouts should be working as they always did!). The geometry definitions I will keep for some while, just in case – but I guess I’ll remove them soon too.
If any Brazilian/Japanese/Korean user feels offended – please raise your voice, explain your concerns. I appreciate any reasonable feedback.
PS On a side note, me and my better half got approval for Irish citizenship. After 8.5 years in the country, I am going to get the second passport and be able to travel the world easily!
February 27th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Hey – I was thinking about a “typing tutor” with realistic keyboard layouts (ie – learning to type on a laptop should reflect the unique keyboard layout / perhaps this exists…)
Could these geometries be used for such an application?
February 27th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Why is removal of features an important thing?
February 27th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Craig: yes of course. Look at the GNOME’s layout chooser – it uses the geometry
xkun: because it might affect people who’re using these features.
February 28th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Why exactly do you remove functionality? Can you explain that to me, because I don’t see the point in it…
March 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
To make it more maintainable and consistent, with minimal loss of functionality. When I see the code which adds ~0 value, just taking some space – I am removing it. That’s why I am asking here – if there is any value in national-specific models.
There is more serious issue with national-specific models. Users are frustrated – they are not sure whether they should use generic or national-specific models with corresponding national layouts (or, alternatively – what would happen if they choose national-specific model with the layout of some other country). I want models to be totally national-neutral, if possible – to reduce the confusion.
Hopefully I’ve answered your question.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:08 am
Hi Sergey,
Here in Brazil I believe the most important layouts are as follows:
– ABNT2: by far the most common these days. It was adopted even by laptop makers, which used to offer only laptops with US International keyboard layouts;
– ABNT: was somewhat common but ABNT2 turned out to be way more popular and pervasive, I have seen very little of ABNT for the last few years;
– US International: the de facto standard until maybe the year 2000, it used to be very common and you’ll probably have no trouble finding one if you try to shop for it in Brazil these days, though ABNT2 is currently your best bet.
As a fellow programmer and Linux user (although I’m typing these words under Windows), I certainly sympathize with your effort to try and simplify things, but I have question: with the changes you did, will I still be able to switch between ABNT and ABNT2 as easily as I can today? Cheers,
Roger
March 4th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Roger: I currently see only abnt2 (which is default) variant for Brazil. It will remain the same, no changes at all. US layout are not affected.