Thank you everyone for taking time to help out. While looking for keyboards, I’ve found a great deal on a new Keychron C3 Pro at Amazon for around $30. It’s a wired keyboard, but it’s got hot swappable brown switches and I figured there’s no way I’d find something better to dip my toes in this hobby.
And I’m really glad I did! The feel and sound of it is just so much better from my regular keyboard it’s not even funny.
I’ve got some sample switches and o-rings in the mail to further dampen the sound but I’m very happy with my purchase.
Original text below:
All those really sweet compact keyboards are super sexy and I want one. But the ones I like are both:
- very expensive
- have windows exclusive software
I’m not even sure mechanical keyboards are for me, to be honest. I don’t type that much, and the keyboard I have - a Logitech wave ergonomic keyboard - suits me, except for the humongous size and the noise (I do a lot of video calls and it gets distracting to my interlocutors).
From my research, a QMK/VIA 65% keyboard would be ideal. The VIA part would allow me to configure the few extra keys and layouts so I can make the most of the keys I’ll have. And it’s Linux compatible. However, it seems the controllers for VIA keyboards make them significantly more expensive. Then there’s the noise issue. The click clack, while tactile satisfying, is a no go for me.
I went down the rabbit hole and to find something that has a chance of suiting me, the cost quickly balloons above $200, and for something which I don’t know if I’ll like. If at least I knew it wouldn’t be too loud I might justify forking that kind of money.
Is there a keyboard for me? How can I tell if it’s going to be too loud? Or should I just give up that search and go for a normie tenkeyless keyboard?
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803480589363.html XDA Profile
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803480589363.html XDA White
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804636787626.html Cherry Profile
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804566903355.html Cherry in grey
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804648158345.html SA in White & Grey
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806072183351.html MOA profile
https://vala.supply/products/mv-terminal
I'm not sure what those strange things are, honestly.
So this is a programmer keycap set, with lots of options related to the key cap profile.
Cherry is one of the most common, and close to OEM which is what most mass market keyboards use. XDA is a lower profile key cap with rounded edges. SA is a very dramatic profile and reduces travel distance to upper row keys and looks more like 60s/70s terminals. MOA is kinda cool as its a square cap that lofts to a round top.
https://www.keychron.com/collections/all-keycaps/products/iso-oem-dye-sub-pbt-full-set-keycap-set-developer
This is another great set in OEM profile.
But they have absolutely nothing to do with unix systems. They're just a cutesy set made to look vaguely "techy".
Do you mean that they the key press has nothing to do with the key cap, or just that the caps are unrelated specifically to *nix commands and shortcuts?
If you want the key press to send a specific *nix based command then you just program it to do that in QMK and create the keymap to fit your needs. You can even have multiple key maps and swap from one to another if you want a console/terminal specific map.
As for *nix specific key caps, there are not many out there and the sets I linked have some of the ones that could be used for specific tasks if you wanted. They are not perfect but they are better than a dedicated windows or co-pilot key.
I think the confusion stems from the fact that you're not familiar with what an actual unix machine keyboard is. Look at Sun keyboards for one that's close to the pc style, or at the space cadet for a historically significant albeit a bit extreme one.
I mean its been 30ish years since I used a SUN or DEC system, but I know the key your talking about, what I dont understand is do you just want the key cap, or do you want the functionality of they key?
The functionality is trivial to add. I'd just like the proper keycaps.
I think I'll just have them custom printed. Super, Hyper and Compose.
Ok, now I am clear, if I see any unix specific key cap sets I will send them over. Sorry for all the confusion.
No problem ;)
But it's a recurring quest. I know the question comes up regularly. And I've never really found anything so far. I'm definitely open to suggestions though!