[ On Saturday, August 14, 1999 at 07:54:19 (-0400), Ted Lemon wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: delete and backspace... 
>
> I remember being upset about this - I'd been using keyboards with the
> delete key in the right place for years, and then this happened.   IBM
> is also famous for moving the control key from its rightful place to
> the left of the A down to the left of the meta key, which they renamed
> the alt key.

Oh, yeah!  But let's not start on the control key or this'll never end!  ;-)

> Fundamentally, we are simply suffering from change, and dealing with
> it as best we can.   When I was a boy, keyboards were laid out in
> what, to me, was the correct way.   Now they're laid out completely
> wrong.   Fortunately, I run NetBSD, an operating system that
> acknowledges the indisputable fact that keyboards *have* no inherent
> nature.

Actually I'm not complaining about change, but rather about incorrect
defaults.

The label on the key is the only correct default for the key, regardless
of what you or I or anyone else might be most accustomed to using a key
in that position for.  If it says "backspace" on the key and it's an
essentially ASCII keyboard then it should *normally* generate a 0x08
character code; and if it says "delete" then it should *normally*
generate a 0x7f character code.

Everyone can change the defaults if they wish (hopefully), but the only
thing that can result from defaults that do not match reality are
endless FAQs and confusion, as we have clearly seen.

-- 
							Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098      VE3TCP      <gwoods@acm.org>      <robohack!woods>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com>; Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>