Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
- Ducky DK9008P PCB with some minor tweaks - Ducky One chassis; black, blue, purple options - Keycap Option 1: Ducky thick PBT blank blue/gray with DK9008G2 windowed Caps, Num, Scroll, F12 - Keycap Option 2: SP DSA Dolch with 4 top window keys (user install) and 4 blanks - Keycap Option 3: GMK Triumph Adler set (user install) and 4 blanks - Keycap Option 4: BYOK
Then comes making it awesome... - Delete WASD backlighting; keep in-switch for Caps, Scroll, Num; add bi-color indicator at F12 (green/red) - 6 position DIP switch for configuration - Gateron switches and Gateron (Cherry clone) stabilizers - ... mounted to a steel plate with switch swap and stabilizer lubrication cutouts, so you can fix it without having to disassemble the whole damn thing. - DIP1+2 = Layout. Off-Off QWERTY, On-Off DVORAK, On-On COLEMAK, Off-On WORKMAN - DIP3 = Unix Layout. Off = Ctrl in Unix position, On = Ctrl in Windows position - DIP4 = X11R6 Layout. Off = LWin is LWIN, RGUI is RGUI, On = LWin is LGUI, RGUI is ExSel (for remap) - DIP5 = Function Keys Layout. Off = Layout 1 (Right Fn, Insert Cluster), On = Layout 2 (Left Fn, F-keys) - DIP6 = "THIS KEY INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK" - Off = Normal Operation, On = Disable WIN/GUI/FN
But wait, there's MORE! - Four keys above Numpad: TBD probably Media, 0C,0223 (Browser), 0C,018A (Mail), 0C,0192 (Calculator) - Fn+F12 = Windows Key Lockout. What, neckbeards can't game? (Also, hitting Win+C sucks.) - Fn + ANY Lock Key = 'Quicklock' (sends LWIN+L). So Fn+CapsLock. - Fn+LeftArrow = Copy (07,7C) - Fn+RightArrow = Paste (07,7D) - Fn+Z = Secret vi easter egg (sends 'ZZ') - Fn+E = Secret emacs easter egg (sends C-x C-s, even though emacs users are losers.)
Function Keys Layout 1 keeps Fn in the default position, and places media control functions on the Insert cluster. Insert = play/pause, Home = prev, PgUp = next, Del = Mute, End = Stop, PgDn = Unused, Fn+UpArrow = VolUp, Vn+DnArrow = VolDn. Layout 2 relocates the Fn key to LWIN, moves LWIN to the RWIN position, and RGUI in Fn position. Media keys are arranged for comfortable operation from a default position . F1 = Play/Pause, F2 = Unused, F3 = Prev, F4 = Next, F5 = Stop. Fn+M = Mute, Fn+J = VolDn, Fn+K = VolUp.
Aside from the nutters that insist fullsize is terrible, there's not a lot of people who WOULDN'T like this board. Despite the name, it's actually designed to be very flexible and fit multiple use cases without any additional changes. You'll note it also leaves F7-F12 open to be used for backlight controls. Because the switches are poppable, it's also repairable. Unix folks, we are good at wearing out the L key for example... especially when you have aliases like 'll' and 'lls' and 'lla' and 'lll' and 'llll' and use vi. ;) So long as the electronics hold out, there's no reason it couldn't be kept running as long as a Model M.