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You can on a Mac. Holding the option key allows typing a whole host of symbols. https://beebom.com/how-type-hidden-mac-keyboard-symbols/ https://beebom.com/how

by knolan 8y ago

You can on a Mac. Holding the option key allows typing a whole host of symbols. https://beebom.com/how-type-hidden-mac-keyboard-symbols/ https://beebom.com/how-type-hidden-mac-keyboard-symbols/

guipsp 8y ago
Right, and you can do the same on linux with the compose key. But it isn't very intuitive, discoverable or rememberable.
- enriquto 8y ago
  > you can do the same on linux with the compose key. But it isn't very intuitive, discoverable or rememberable. Well, LaTeX itself is not very discoverable either
  - knolan 8y ago
    It’s pretty good IMHO. Greek symbols are all obvious. \Omega and \omega for upper and lowercase omega etc. Super and subscripts with ^{} and _{} also work with \sum and \int for indices and intervals. Software like Latexit and Mathpix also help a lot.
- slrz 8y ago
  Badly discoverable? Sure. You can vastly improve the remembering part by picking appropriate mnemonics. The Plan 9 keyboard file is a nice start, I think. It follows a set of rules so you don't have to remember a large number of sequences but can often guess the right one intuitively. ASCII digraphs for mathematical operators give the corresponding operator, e.g., <= yields ≤. Greek letters are given by an asterisk followed by a corresponding latin letter, e.g., *d yields δ. https://github.com/9fans/plan9port/blob/master/lib/keyboard https://github.com/9fans/plan9port/blob/master/lib/keyboard https://9fans.github.io/plan9port/man/man7/keyboard.html https://9fans.github.io/plan9port/man/man7/keyboard.html There's a program (mklatinkbd) to convert it to a format usable with X11.
grenoire 8y ago
This is like asking someone to use Alt codes (https://www.alt-codes.net/ https://www.alt-codes.net/) on Windows, it's highly unintuitive and cumbersome.
- Jtsummers 8y ago
  They aren’t terribly intuitive, but they are much easier than alt-codes. If you’re a touch typist it doesn’t take long to memorize a reasonable number of symbol positions. I still can’t temember any alt-codes though when I’m on a windows machine.
  - knolan 8y ago
    I know the few I use regularly and the rest are easy to get via ctrl CMD Space. I’ve added various symbol sets to the character viewer and it suits my work flow.

by knolan 8y ago

You can on a Mac. Holding the option key allows typing a whole host of symbols. https://beebom.com/how-type-hidden-mac-keyboard-symbols/ https://beebom.com/how-type-hidden-mac-keyboard-symbols/

guipsp 8y ago

Right, and you can do the same on linux with the compose key. But it isn't very intuitive, discoverable or rememberable.

enriquto 8y ago
> you can do the same on linux with the compose key. But it isn't very intuitive, discoverable or rememberable. Well, LaTeX itself is not very discoverable either
- knolan 8y ago
  It’s pretty good IMHO. Greek symbols are all obvious. \Omega and \omega for upper and lowercase omega etc. Super and subscripts with ^{} and _{} also work with \sum and \int for indices and intervals. Software like Latexit and Mathpix also help a lot.
slrz 8y ago
Badly discoverable? Sure. You can vastly improve the remembering part by picking appropriate mnemonics. The Plan 9 keyboard file is a nice start, I think. It follows a set of rules so you don't have to remember a large number of sequences but can often guess the right one intuitively. ASCII digraphs for mathematical operators give the corresponding operator, e.g., <= yields ≤. Greek letters are given by an asterisk followed by a corresponding latin letter, e.g., *d yields δ. https://github.com/9fans/plan9port/blob/master/lib/keyboard https://github.com/9fans/plan9port/blob/master/lib/keyboard https://9fans.github.io/plan9port/man/man7/keyboard.html https://9fans.github.io/plan9port/man/man7/keyboard.html There's a program (mklatinkbd) to convert it to a format usable with X11.

grenoire 8y ago

This is like asking someone to use Alt codes (https://www.alt-codes.net/ https://www.alt-codes.net/) on Windows, it's highly unintuitive and cumbersome.

Jtsummers 8y ago
They aren’t terribly intuitive, but they are much easier than alt-codes. If you’re a touch typist it doesn’t take long to memorize a reasonable number of symbol positions. I still can’t temember any alt-codes though when I’m on a windows machine.
- knolan 8y ago
  I know the few I use regularly and the rest are easy to get via ctrl CMD Space. I’ve added various symbol sets to the character viewer and it suits my work flow.