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Mostly because my Windows setup works for me and moving to Linux would be a large disruption for questionable benefit. Things about my Windows setup which (I th

Mostly because my Windows setup works for me and moving to Linux would be a large disruption for questionable benefit. Things about my Windows setup which (I think) are hard to recreate on Linux, ignoring the possibility of writing my own code/tool: * AutoHotKey. Alt/Capslock + IJKL is a universal way to get arrowkeys - e.g. it works in Chrome/a note taking app/Terminal. I'm not against getting a QMK keyboard, but I'm not aware of any laptop keyboards which support QMK. Switching between the two will get real annoying real fast. * 7+ Taskbar Tweaker. My taskbar hides window names for programs like Spotify/Outlook/Slack (programs which usually have 1 window), but shows window names for programs like Chrome/Terminal/VSCode (programs which usually have multiple windows). * Logitech software. My mouse has buttons hooked up to F13-F20 (yeah, there's more past F12), which AutoHotKey listens for and does specific stuff depending on what program is currently in focus. The above are relatively important for my computing happiness, and I'm not entirely sure what I'll gain from moving to Linux. If you can can address any of these points, please LMK! My reasons not to move to Linux have been growing fewer and fewer, but I've yet to find reasons to move to Linux. Edit: Actually now that I think about this... I can just setup the mouse on a Windows box and it should just keep sending F13 etc. to a Linux box. So now I only have 2 reasons keeping me on Windows: AutoHotKey and an easily customizable Taskbar. The latter reason will also likely prevent me from upgrading to Win11.

chmod775 5y ago
Your second point really depends on the window manager/taskbar you want to use (they don't have to be the same program). Your first and last points can be trivially achieved by mapping those keys via xmodmap - for instance: ! keycodes of your right and left alt keys keycode 108 = Mode_switch keycode 64 = Mode_switch ! remap the i key to emit Up when pressing Alt+i keysym i = i I Up Up You can use the 'xev' utility to quickly find out the keycodes of keys on your system (just hover the window, press your button, and read the keycode). But all that is only necessary if your desktop environment doesn't ship with key mapping functionality already. If you're on wayland instead of Xorg, then you'll have to use xkb to set this up. There's also a bunch of AutoHotkey-like tools, but they're probably not necessary for something as simple as you're describing. The first that come to mind are AutoKey, SikuliX and IronAHK (a cross-platform rewrite of AutoHotkey, but I think it's discontinued). Most desktop environments ship with functionality to (at least) run a command when you press a certain key. Others, like AwesomeWM, are way more powerful.
- dharmaturtle 5y ago
  Thanks for this! I have some stuff to google now. Great to hear that what I want is "simple" - I think it's pretty basic too :) My AHK stuff is a bit more complicated - my scripts total about 5000 LOC, but a lot of that is inflated cause it also doubles as a window manager. It does a bunch of other minor stuff, e.g. Alt-IJKL also combos with Shift for selection and Ctrl for word skipping, but I'm sure xmodmap and other tools you mentioned can handle that.
  - chmod775 5y ago
    That sounds like AwesomeWM might be a good fit for you. A lot of the 'window manager' is essentially Lua, which doubles as the configuration language. If, upon pressing the F12 key, you want your windows to perform a choreographed dance before organizing themselves into neat rows ordered by name, it is the window manager for you. Since all the interesting parts are written in Lua, you can easily modify it to look and behave like anything reasonable - and most unreasonable things - you can come up with. Alt-IJKL, when remapped at a low level like that, should behave exactly like arrow keys and combo with Ctrl/Shift like you would expect. You don't have to do anything extra.
smoldesu 5y ago
Just a few thoughts from a random dev who's been daily driving Linux for ~2 years after ditching Mac/Windows: - AHK is kinda tough to replace on Linux, since you're kinda stealing the display manager's job. Since there are now two display managers in use (the older x11 and newer Wayland), you'd need to find a solution that works for you. It seems to be pretty easy on x11 though[0], and if Wayland doesn't offer similar functionality I'll be quite surprised. - Taskbar manipulation is handled by your window manager, and you can typically get pretty granular with it. I don't have the exact same setup as you, but I do have a second taskbar on my second display specifically for Spotify/IRC. - AFAIK, Linux was the progenitor of the extended function row :) In conclusion, your sticking points are probably going to continue to be sticking points for the foreseeable future. I hope that doesn't discourage you from enjoying Linux though, even through WSL. [0] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/X_keyboard_extension#Caps_hjkl_as_vimlike_arrow_keys https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/X_keyboard_extension#Caps_h...
- dharmaturtle 5y ago
  Oh fantastic. Your link eventually led me to find "Vim-like Layer for Xorg and Wayland", which is pretty much what I want. https://cedaei.com/posts/vim-like-layer-for-xorg-wayland/ https://cedaei.com/posts/vim-like-layer-for-xorg-wayland/ Now I just need to learn Vim :D
oblio 5y ago
I don't use desktop Linux anymore, just a comment: if it's a techie oriented tool and automation related, Linux probably has it in some form (more likely 5000 different forms), and it's probably best in class. Where Linux suffers is support for many big commercial applications (MS Office for obvious reasons, Adobe software, etc.) and hardware support (which can be hit and miss, depending on your luck). But if you're thinking: "how could I automate whatever desktop action operation?" Linux for sure can do it. I have no idea right now how you'd it, but I'd be shocked if it couldn't. There's sooo much configurability.
deleted 5y ago
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fragmede 5y ago
There are absolutely reasons not to switch to Desktop Linux, but support for weird custom configs is a reason to use Linux. Xmonad and other tiling window managers have been ported to back to windows and os x, they're so important to users. Someone's already mentioned how to use xmodmap to get global custom key bindings. Now, whether it's worth it to you, who has already learned autohotkey's syntax, to move to Linux, I can't say. Linux is a game of differently confusing config files from Windows and sometimes it's about the devil you know vs the one you don't.
csdvrx 5y ago
Which mouse are you using? I'm currently looking for a new mouse and trackball that I would use with AutoHotKey (yeah I'm windows fangirl - what can I say, it's just way more productive than Linux) I read good things here about the Logitech MX Anywhere S2 so I'm thinking about getting one. The more buttons, the merrier!
- dharmaturtle 5y ago
  I use two actually - the G700 when at my desk, and G604 when travelling. I really, really like the G700 - I've bought a total of four of them now. Unfortunately Logitech's stopped making them, hence the 604, which is actually not bad. I still prefer the 700's shape/heft, but it's a minor thing. You likely have smaller hands so the 604 will probably suit you fine. The 700(s) has a terrible battery life (like literally 1 day), but the 604 can go months without a recharge (if on bluetooth). Both have toggleable smooth/segmented scrolling, a tiltwheel, a cluster of thumb buttons, a high DPI, and can do FN13+ keys as mentioned. I forgot how I got FN13+ keys onto the 604, but here's the `profile.dat` that I use for my 700s: https://pastebin.com/Sp50Bnpn https://pastebin.com/Sp50Bnpn The process for getting it on to the 604 may or may not be similar. The thumb buttons do stuff like CtrlW/AltF4 (depending on the program), toggle between maximize/restore, minimize, media play/pause, and summon media player. Pretty basic stuff: #IfWinActive ahk_exe chrome.exe F14:: WinGet MX, MinMax, A If MX WinRestore A Else WinMaximize A Return F13::SendInput ^+t F15::WinMinimize,A F16::SendInput ^+{Tab} F17::SendInput ^{Tab} F18::SendInput !{Right} F19::SendInput !{Left} F20::SendInput ^w F21::Media_Play_Pause Oh, and one of my more favorite AHK things: RButton & WheelUp::Send {Volume_Up 1} RButton & WheelDown::Send {Volume_Down 1} RButton & F17:: Send {Volume_Mute} ;; aka right click + mousetilt = mute
  - csdvrx 5y ago
    > You likely have smaller hands If you add the qualifier "than you", yes, it's not a very risky prediction given the difference between genders in the hand size distribution and the demographics of HN users: https://geogebraintheclassroom.blogspot.com/2015/11/introducing-normal-distribution-part-1.html https://geogebraintheclassroom.blogspot.com/2015/11/introduc... Objectively, I usually get glove size 6 to 6.5, but I do consider my hand quite big. I guess I could plug the numbers from http://www.fownesbrothers.com/press/2016/5/10/glove-size-does-matter http://www.fownesbrothers.com/press/2016/5/10/glove-size-doe... in the distribution above to compute my percentile and see if my perception is accurate. All this to say, I'll have to be careful to adjust the recommendation by size, as mouse (or trackball) size is an important factor in comfort, and my perception may not be accurate. > Oh, and one of my more favorite AHK things: Chording!!! Yes!!! Extending the idea to mouse keys is very inspiring!! FWIW, like many people I have Caps and Enter using that: Caps and Enter are respectively Esc and Enter when used alone, or Left and Right control when used with other keys. But wait, it goes further: - my Shift keys behave as Page Up and Page Down when used alone, - my Alt keys behave as Home and End when used alone, - my Control keys behave as Insert and Delete when used alone In practice, this puts the edit keys very close to my fingers, even on laptop-style keyboards. I don't always use these alternatives, but I've noticed a tendency for modern keyboard to remove these edit keys, so I want to have a solution ready for when I can't find good keyboards anymore.
pxc 5y ago
The keyboards in System76's new models (any with their custom EC firmware) support up to 4 programmable layers idk if they actually work with QMK, but they use the same configurator as their custom keyboard for desktops, which can run QMK The Plasma desktop environment lets you modify window behavior on a per-application or per-window basis OOTB, including having them skip the taskbar.

chmod775 5y ago

Your second point really depends on the window manager/taskbar you want to use (they don't have to be the same program). Your first and last points can be trivially achieved by mapping those keys via xmodmap - for instance: ! keycodes of your right and left alt keys keycode 108 = Mode_switch keycode 64 = Mode_switch ! remap the i key to emit Up when pressing Alt+i keysym i = i I Up Up You can use the 'xev' utility to quickly find out the keycodes of keys on your system (just hover the window, press your button, and read the keycode). But all that is only necessary if your desktop environment doesn't ship with key mapping functionality already. If you're on wayland instead of Xorg, then you'll have to use xkb to set this up. There's also a bunch of AutoHotkey-like tools, but they're probably not necessary for something as simple as you're describing. The first that come to mind are AutoKey, SikuliX and IronAHK (a cross-platform rewrite of AutoHotkey, but I think it's discontinued). Most desktop environments ship with functionality to (at least) run a command when you press a certain key. Others, like AwesomeWM, are way more powerful.

dharmaturtle 5y ago
Thanks for this! I have some stuff to google now. Great to hear that what I want is "simple" - I think it's pretty basic too :) My AHK stuff is a bit more complicated - my scripts total about 5000 LOC, but a lot of that is inflated cause it also doubles as a window manager. It does a bunch of other minor stuff, e.g. Alt-IJKL also combos with Shift for selection and Ctrl for word skipping, but I'm sure xmodmap and other tools you mentioned can handle that.
- chmod775 5y ago
  That sounds like AwesomeWM might be a good fit for you. A lot of the 'window manager' is essentially Lua, which doubles as the configuration language. If, upon pressing the F12 key, you want your windows to perform a choreographed dance before organizing themselves into neat rows ordered by name, it is the window manager for you. Since all the interesting parts are written in Lua, you can easily modify it to look and behave like anything reasonable - and most unreasonable things - you can come up with. Alt-IJKL, when remapped at a low level like that, should behave exactly like arrow keys and combo with Ctrl/Shift like you would expect. You don't have to do anything extra.

smoldesu 5y ago

Just a few thoughts from a random dev who's been daily driving Linux for ~2 years after ditching Mac/Windows: - AHK is kinda tough to replace on Linux, since you're kinda stealing the display manager's job. Since there are now two display managers in use (the older x11 and newer Wayland), you'd need to find a solution that works for you. It seems to be pretty easy on x11 though[0], and if Wayland doesn't offer similar functionality I'll be quite surprised. - Taskbar manipulation is handled by your window manager, and you can typically get pretty granular with it. I don't have the exact same setup as you, but I do have a second taskbar on my second display specifically for Spotify/IRC. - AFAIK, Linux was the progenitor of the extended function row :) In conclusion, your sticking points are probably going to continue to be sticking points for the foreseeable future. I hope that doesn't discourage you from enjoying Linux though, even through WSL. [0] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/X_keyboard_extension#Caps_hjkl_as_vimlike_arrow_keys https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/X_keyboard_extension#Caps_h...

dharmaturtle 5y ago
Oh fantastic. Your link eventually led me to find "Vim-like Layer for Xorg and Wayland", which is pretty much what I want. https://cedaei.com/posts/vim-like-layer-for-xorg-wayland/ https://cedaei.com/posts/vim-like-layer-for-xorg-wayland/ Now I just need to learn Vim :D

oblio 5y ago

I don't use desktop Linux anymore, just a comment: if it's a techie oriented tool and automation related, Linux probably has it in some form (more likely 5000 different forms), and it's probably best in class. Where Linux suffers is support for many big commercial applications (MS Office for obvious reasons, Adobe software, etc.) and hardware support (which can be hit and miss, depending on your luck). But if you're thinking: "how could I automate whatever desktop action operation?" Linux for sure can do it. I have no idea right now how you'd it, but I'd be shocked if it couldn't. There's sooo much configurability.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

fragmede 5y ago

There are absolutely reasons not to switch to Desktop Linux, but support for weird custom configs is a reason to use Linux. Xmonad and other tiling window managers have been ported to back to windows and os x, they're so important to users. Someone's already mentioned how to use xmodmap to get global custom key bindings. Now, whether it's worth it to you, who has already learned autohotkey's syntax, to move to Linux, I can't say. Linux is a game of differently confusing config files from Windows and sometimes it's about the devil you know vs the one you don't.

csdvrx 5y ago

Which mouse are you using? I'm currently looking for a new mouse and trackball that I would use with AutoHotKey (yeah I'm windows fangirl - what can I say, it's just way more productive than Linux) I read good things here about the Logitech MX Anywhere S2 so I'm thinking about getting one. The more buttons, the merrier!

dharmaturtle 5y ago
I use two actually - the G700 when at my desk, and G604 when travelling. I really, really like the G700 - I've bought a total of four of them now. Unfortunately Logitech's stopped making them, hence the 604, which is actually not bad. I still prefer the 700's shape/heft, but it's a minor thing. You likely have smaller hands so the 604 will probably suit you fine. The 700(s) has a terrible battery life (like literally 1 day), but the 604 can go months without a recharge (if on bluetooth). Both have toggleable smooth/segmented scrolling, a tiltwheel, a cluster of thumb buttons, a high DPI, and can do FN13+ keys as mentioned. I forgot how I got FN13+ keys onto the 604, but here's the `profile.dat` that I use for my 700s: https://pastebin.com/Sp50Bnpn https://pastebin.com/Sp50Bnpn The process for getting it on to the 604 may or may not be similar. The thumb buttons do stuff like CtrlW/AltF4 (depending on the program), toggle between maximize/restore, minimize, media play/pause, and summon media player. Pretty basic stuff: #IfWinActive ahk_exe chrome.exe F14:: WinGet MX, MinMax, A If MX WinRestore A Else WinMaximize A Return F13::SendInput ^+t F15::WinMinimize,A F16::SendInput ^+{Tab} F17::SendInput ^{Tab} F18::SendInput !{Right} F19::SendInput !{Left} F20::SendInput ^w F21::Media_Play_Pause Oh, and one of my more favorite AHK things: RButton & WheelUp::Send {Volume_Up 1} RButton & WheelDown::Send {Volume_Down 1} RButton & F17:: Send {Volume_Mute} ;; aka right click + mousetilt = mute
- csdvrx 5y ago
  > You likely have smaller hands If you add the qualifier "than you", yes, it's not a very risky prediction given the difference between genders in the hand size distribution and the demographics of HN users: https://geogebraintheclassroom.blogspot.com/2015/11/introducing-normal-distribution-part-1.html https://geogebraintheclassroom.blogspot.com/2015/11/introduc... Objectively, I usually get glove size 6 to 6.5, but I do consider my hand quite big. I guess I could plug the numbers from http://www.fownesbrothers.com/press/2016/5/10/glove-size-does-matter http://www.fownesbrothers.com/press/2016/5/10/glove-size-doe... in the distribution above to compute my percentile and see if my perception is accurate. All this to say, I'll have to be careful to adjust the recommendation by size, as mouse (or trackball) size is an important factor in comfort, and my perception may not be accurate. > Oh, and one of my more favorite AHK things: Chording!!! Yes!!! Extending the idea to mouse keys is very inspiring!! FWIW, like many people I have Caps and Enter using that: Caps and Enter are respectively Esc and Enter when used alone, or Left and Right control when used with other keys. But wait, it goes further: - my Shift keys behave as Page Up and Page Down when used alone, - my Alt keys behave as Home and End when used alone, - my Control keys behave as Insert and Delete when used alone In practice, this puts the edit keys very close to my fingers, even on laptop-style keyboards. I don't always use these alternatives, but I've noticed a tendency for modern keyboard to remove these edit keys, so I want to have a solution ready for when I can't find good keyboards anymore.

pxc 5y ago

The keyboards in System76's new models (any with their custom EC firmware) support up to 4 programmable layers idk if they actually work with QMK, but they use the same configurator as their custom keyboard for desktops, which can run QMK The Plasma desktop environment lets you modify window behavior on a per-application or per-window basis OOTB, including having them skip the taskbar.