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There's a reason they don't use Ctrl-C etc for copy/paste - because in the terminal, as I'm sure you know, Ctrl-C sends a SIGINT signal. In OS X you can use a c

There's a reason they don't use Ctrl-C etc for copy/paste - because in the terminal, as I'm sure you know, Ctrl-C sends a SIGINT signal. In OS X you can use a consistent command for copy and paste across the whole operating system, including the terminal.

Nursie 13y ago
That's not a good enough reason to break my muscle-memory, IMHO, even if it is consistent. I prize consistency across platforms more than within.
- ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
  I think the point is that Microsoft 'broke' your muscle-memory by assigning an already-in-use shortcut.
  - lewispollard 13y ago
    Exactly. IIRC the command key and shortcuts were added on the Apple IIe. It's not a recent addition and not something that 'broke' anyone's muscle memory. If they'd changed it to ctrl-c to cater for windows users, that would've broken historical Mac muscle memory.
    - Nursie 13y ago
      They could support it being an easy config option. Instead you can swap the keys (which breaks the key combos you might use in a VM, AFAICT) or you can mess around with KeyBindings, which only apply to some applications and not others. Not having an option for it at this point in time seems like little more than bloody mindedness. And regardless of any of this, it makes it harder to switch comfortably to Mac OS than pretty much any other OS, and I use a lot of different OS's to get my job done.
      - lewispollard 13y ago
        I will concede that they could have made it reconfigurable (though you can indeed reconfigure using third party software like KeyRemap4MacBook). I was just giving a bit of historical context as to why this was the case - the IIe being a terminal-based machine. Apple are quite stubborn when it comes to accommodating people switching from other platforms, they tend to believe that their ways are the best and most usable, and that that alone will sell people on their platform. For me, that turned out to be true - having used Windows/Linux most of my life and making the full-time switch about 7 years ago, I almost always prefer the 'Apple way' these days.
  - Nursie 13y ago
    No, the point is that I had to change when moving to Mac when both Windows and Linux support the Ctrl way. That particular shortcut is not in use 99% of the time in the modern era. Arguing that the MAC UI is somehow centred around console applications seems a little churlish. Plus it's far easier to context switch on the single application level (am I in a terminal? Ctrl-C isn't copy) than it is on the platform level (which OS is this application, which looks identical on every platform, currently running on? Oh wait, is this one in a VM?). Regardless of who may have been 'right' 20 years ago, Mac OS sticks out and makes life difficult now. It's also non-optimal in terms of either requiring a weirdly cramped hand position or two hands, but that's secondary.

Nursie 13y ago

That's not a good enough reason to break my muscle-memory, IMHO, even if it is consistent. I prize consistency across platforms more than within.

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
I think the point is that Microsoft 'broke' your muscle-memory by assigning an already-in-use shortcut.
- lewispollard 13y ago
  Exactly. IIRC the command key and shortcuts were added on the Apple IIe. It's not a recent addition and not something that 'broke' anyone's muscle memory. If they'd changed it to ctrl-c to cater for windows users, that would've broken historical Mac muscle memory.
  - Nursie 13y ago
    They could support it being an easy config option. Instead you can swap the keys (which breaks the key combos you might use in a VM, AFAICT) or you can mess around with KeyBindings, which only apply to some applications and not others. Not having an option for it at this point in time seems like little more than bloody mindedness. And regardless of any of this, it makes it harder to switch comfortably to Mac OS than pretty much any other OS, and I use a lot of different OS's to get my job done.
    - lewispollard 13y ago
      I will concede that they could have made it reconfigurable (though you can indeed reconfigure using third party software like KeyRemap4MacBook). I was just giving a bit of historical context as to why this was the case - the IIe being a terminal-based machine. Apple are quite stubborn when it comes to accommodating people switching from other platforms, they tend to believe that their ways are the best and most usable, and that that alone will sell people on their platform. For me, that turned out to be true - having used Windows/Linux most of my life and making the full-time switch about 7 years ago, I almost always prefer the 'Apple way' these days.
- Nursie 13y ago
  No, the point is that I had to change when moving to Mac when both Windows and Linux support the Ctrl way. That particular shortcut is not in use 99% of the time in the modern era. Arguing that the MAC UI is somehow centred around console applications seems a little churlish. Plus it's far easier to context switch on the single application level (am I in a terminal? Ctrl-C isn't copy) than it is on the platform level (which OS is this application, which looks identical on every platform, currently running on? Oh wait, is this one in a VM?). Regardless of who may have been 'right' 20 years ago, Mac OS sticks out and makes life difficult now. It's also non-optimal in terms of either requiring a weirdly cramped hand position or two hands, but that's secondary.