5 ms·
Yeah, for sure, but without easy way to access it from the keyboard, most don't bother wasting time inserting it. Smart tools like LibreOffice and above indeed
by shmerl 10mo ago
Yeah, for sure, but without easy way to access it from the keyboard, most don't bother wasting time inserting it.
Smart tools like LibreOffice and above indeed help with it, but in other scenarios, especially common browser usage that's not the case. Compose key is really useful for that, but it's not widely known outside of Linux.
- macintux 10mo agoMacOS makes it simple: option + - for en-dash, option + shift + - for em-dash.
- shmerl 10mo agoI see. What other combos does it support?
- macintux 10mo agoOption is used extensively for non-Ascii characters, a comprehensive list would be quite long. A few of the easier to remember: option + 0 for degrees º option + u for to place an umlaut over the next typed character (when it's a valid combination, anyway) ëüä option + c for cedilla ç
- shmerl 10mo agoInteresting. Kind of reinventing Compose key combos. I wonder why they didn't just reuse Compose ones from FreeBSD.
- macintux 10mo agoThis dates back to the beginning of the Mac, so it's almost 10 years older than FreeBSD. (I'm unfamiliar with other UNIX compose key tooling that may have predated it.)
- layer8 10mo agoThere are lots: https://mackeeper.com/blog/special-characters-mac-keyboard/#h2_1 https://mackeeper.com/blog/special-characters-mac-keyboard/#...
- shmerl 10mo agoYeah, looks like they developed separately from Compose combos.
- michael_michael 10mo agoI use µ for microns or micrometers µm. Option + m. Also if you need ad-hoc bullets, just reach for option + 8. • Like this. The difficulty in accessing symbols like these is one of my (I'm sure correctable) hang-ups when using Linux — Arch, btw.
- bigstrat2003 10mo agoI would not call keyboard shortcuts "simple". Having a key on the keyboard is simple, having to memorize shortcuts is not.
- macintux 10mo agoSimple in that many of them are relatively easy to remember after learning. ¢ for example is option+4—where the dollar sign is. A keyboard with every possible character would have its own simplicity challenges.
- layer8 10mo agoOn macOS and Windows there are keyboard shortcuts for en/em dashes, but I also prefer the Compose key.