I use Linux so I didn't care about copilot stuff. But recently at work I got dell workstation. It costs around 5k usd. The specs are great. But it has single Ctrl key on the left side, copilot button took its place. I can't jump between words with one hand, I have to press Ctrl with my left hand, and use arrow keys with right hand.
This single choice made the machine piece crap
Absolutely. Even worse, the key doesn't have its own scancode, but instead acts as lshift+lmeta+f23, so rebinding it is a real pain. I know about Hanlon's razor, but there's only so much incompetence one can accept...
Pre-USB keyboards used a similarly horrific combination for Print Screen, which was also the only key that didn't report when it was released. This was for the same reason - the key was added after the keycode list was standardized.
Even the arrow keys are weird, they report as numpad keys, but also have a special extended key flag to tell you that it's not really a numpad key.
My favorite keyboard was one that came with HP PC's ... in the late 90's I think. It had a split space bar. I think the deal was the right half of the space bar was the space bar and the left half was the backspace key.
Using it was like a magic trick. Words would just get a character truncated and merge. I could watch my fingers type and I would know what I had to do and my fingers would just merrily go on and do whatever they wanted.
There was some youtube video about a guy who set up a bike that had the turning backwards - you turned right and the front wheel went left. The funny part was that with a lot of effort the guy managed to teach himself to not be able to ride a normal bike.
It may or may not be easy, depending on your environment, but you can remap keys. I have `input * xkb_options "caps:backspace,compose:ralt"` in my ~/.config/sway/config, for example, plus `input ‹laptop keyboard identifier› xkb_file "~/.config/sway/keymap.xkb"` with that file fixing XF86AudioMicMute (which has key code 256, but X only supports up to 255 and I’m still not quite sure why this was necessary), and now remapping RShift to LCtrl which died early this year.
But… ouch. From <a href="https://itsfoss.com/remap-copilot-key-linux/" rel="nofollow">https://itsfoss.com/remap-copilot-key-linux/ and other sources, sounds like the Copilot button is LMeta+LShift+F23. Why a combo when using an esoteric key not on anyone’s keyboard anyway? Ugh. That’ll make it harder to sort out, though still possible.
Can't you replace the keyboard? (I'm assuming "workstation" != laptop). I have mechanicals laying around that I would just haul with me into work.
I have a laptop with a copilot key, this maps it to right Ctrl on Linux. How well it works depends on how your specific keyboard implements the Shift+Meta+F23 keypress so your mileage may vary. <a href="https://github.com/mishoo/exorcise-copilot" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/mishoo/exorcise-copilot
I wish laptops would come with a standard TKL layout. I really need those navigation keys. Ctl-end, ctl-shift-home, ctl-shift-left, all of those things I am constantly using and feel like I'm wearing mittens when using pretty much any laptop.
My new car came with terrible tires that have little traction, but I just buy a new set. I don’t say it’s a crap car just because they cheap out with the stock tires on it. I love the car.
Keychron on that workstation and be done with it.
I have been able to reclaim my Copilot key with keyd. <a href="https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd
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Using it was like a magic trick. Words would just get a character truncated and merge. I could watch my fingers type and I would know what I had to do and my fingers would just merrily go on and do whatever they wanted.
There was some youtube video about a guy who set up a bike that had the turning backwards - you turned right and the front wheel went left. The funny part was that with a lot of effort the guy managed to teach himself to not be able to ride a normal bike.
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But… ouch. From <a href="https://itsfoss.com/remap-copilot-key-linux/" rel="nofollow">https://itsfoss.com/remap-copilot-key-linux/ and other sources, sounds like the Copilot button is LMeta+LShift+F23. Why a combo when using an esoteric key not on anyone’s keyboard anyway? Ugh. That’ll make it harder to sort out, though still possible.
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