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Looking at the Icelandic layout[1] from a programmers' perspective, the big difference appears to be that \, [, and ] need a modifier, Alt-Gr; and ; (semi-colon

Looking at the Icelandic layout[1] from a programmers' perspective, the big difference appears to be that \, [, and ] need a modifier, Alt-Gr; and ; (semi-colon) is shifted. The shifted semi-colon must be irritating in C-like languages, but even on US/UK keyboards, characters like ( and { need Shift, which admittedly is larger than Alt-Gr and there are two of them. I wonder if the larger right Shift key can be mapped as Alt-Gr. PS. Does Icelandic need the letter 'mu' often enough to dedicate a key to it on the keyboard? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_keyboard_layout#/media/File:KB_Iceland.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_keyboard_layout#/med...

tirpen 6y ago
μ is used a fair bit by anyone who uses the metric system, so it makes sense to include it. It's used as a prefix to denote a millionth for those that don't know, as in µm = micrometer = a millionth of a meter. It's mapped to Alt-Gr+M on Swedish keyboards as well, but I've never seen a keyboard where it's actually written on out on the key.
- IceDane 6y ago
  > A fair bit by anyone who uses the metric system? I'm sorry, but what? Most people who use the metric system can't tell you which is smaller: micro or milli. Most people will never encounter anything in their lifetime they will actually need to reason about in some important manner that is measured in μ-anything. As a user of the Icelandic layout I wasn't even aware that the key was on there, but I can confirm that we absolutely don't need it. I think there are probably a lot of keyboard layouts that could use modernizing wrt. how they are actually used today.
  - Symbiote 6y ago
    µ would be used by scientists, engineers, doctors and nurses. That doesn't seem unreasonable, when we have <, >, { and } for mathematics, \ originally for logicians (to combine to make /\ AND and \/ OR) and |, @, _ and # for programming.
IceDane 6y ago
Shifted semicolon is absolutely a non-issue. If there are any problems with the layout, it's hiding the symbols behind altgr, but the shifted semicolon is really not a problem.
- Symbiote 6y ago
  I think if my mother tongue wasn't English, and I therefore regularly typed on a different European layout, I'd remap the left Windows key or maybe Caps Lock to be an additional AltGr.

tirpen 6y ago

μ is used a fair bit by anyone who uses the metric system, so it makes sense to include it. It's used as a prefix to denote a millionth for those that don't know, as in µm = micrometer = a millionth of a meter. It's mapped to Alt-Gr+M on Swedish keyboards as well, but I've never seen a keyboard where it's actually written on out on the key.

IceDane 6y ago
> A fair bit by anyone who uses the metric system? I'm sorry, but what? Most people who use the metric system can't tell you which is smaller: micro or milli. Most people will never encounter anything in their lifetime they will actually need to reason about in some important manner that is measured in μ-anything. As a user of the Icelandic layout I wasn't even aware that the key was on there, but I can confirm that we absolutely don't need it. I think there are probably a lot of keyboard layouts that could use modernizing wrt. how they are actually used today.
- Symbiote 6y ago
  µ would be used by scientists, engineers, doctors and nurses. That doesn't seem unreasonable, when we have <, >, { and } for mathematics, \ originally for logicians (to combine to make /\ AND and \/ OR) and |, @, _ and # for programming.

IceDane 6y ago

Shifted semicolon is absolutely a non-issue. If there are any problems with the layout, it's hiding the symbols behind altgr, but the shifted semicolon is really not a problem.

Symbiote 6y ago
I think if my mother tongue wasn't English, and I therefore regularly typed on a different European layout, I'd remap the left Windows key or maybe Caps Lock to be an additional AltGr.