On Wed, 2008-10-22 at 13:31 -0700, Jeremy Chadwick wrote: > On Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 01:06:20PM -0700, Nate Eldredge wrote: > > On Wed, 22 Oct 2008, Gary Kline wrote: > > > >> On Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 01:06:29PM +0200, Dag-Erling Sm?rgrav wrote: > >>> martinko <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >>>> I have always thought that Fn key in left most bottom corner of the > >>>> keyboard is, especially for programmers, a very bad idea. :-( > >>> > >>> Seconded. Worse still, on my Lenovo T60, if the Fn key is held down > >>> longer than a fraction of a second, it generates an input event which > >>> just happens to correspond to Gnome's default key binding for the "next > >>> track" function in media players... > >> > >> I've seen that Fn key, but don't know what it is for. What? you press > >> it, then follow with the integers [ 1, 2, 3 ... ]? At any rate, maybe > >> you can remap the key with ~/.xmodmaprc. > > > > Fn is usually used on laptop keyboards to allow two logical keys to share > > a single physical key. For example, see the keyboard pictured at > > http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/3415.jpg . On the extreme lower > > right is a key with "->" in white and "End" in blue. Pressing it by > > itself sends the keycode corresponding to an ordinary keyboard's "->" > > key. Holding Fn and pressing that key sends the keycode corresponding to > > an ordinary keyboard's "End" key. On many keyboards, pressing Fn by > > itself sends no keycode at all, so it cannot be remapped. > > > > It is also sometimes used to control hardware features which on a desktop > > machine might have a different interface. For instance, on the laptop > > pictured, holding Fn and pressing F6 would increase the screen > > brightness, probably without sending a keycode. A desktop machine would > > probably have a button on the monitor itself to do this.
Thanks for clearing up a back-of-mind mystery since I bought my 600E in 2003; I kept hitting the "Fn" for the ^ key, and *nothing happened* so I had to re-type the control sequence. It is an ill-planned layout and I'm sure that 'BM has heard about it from us hacker types. --Why this is the best list in the (known) universe. Seriously. > > I always figured "Fn" was a good name for the key, given that it > resembles the expletive that comes forth from my mouth when intending to > hit Control. That ain't that much of a joke, Jeremy. unless I'm at my desk with wrist-rest I can barely reach the back keys. [shoulder problems]. So far I've invented around 7--maybe 8--new profanities. BTW, if that jpeg is a Lenovo, is that a scratch-and-sniff pad below the mouse buttons? (The TPad's *did* need a redesign, but for me, the trakmouse/trakstick/<<whatever>> was perfect. My left paw went right there.) ...FWIW, I just bought a G41 (3.06GHz) pre-Lenovo. gary > > http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/9328.jpg > > ;-) > _______________________________________________ freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-hackers To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
