Really quite far from your average Apple fanboy.

[hirez]

I have been using OS X kit for (counts on fingers...) four years and it has been a generally positive experience. Modulo the whole grafting of the NeXT/Netinfo malarkey onto an otherwise blameless BSD userland, the weird packaging disconnect (applications are packaged mostly-cleverly. The OS, er, isn't. Thus security/OS patching is a bit of a one-way process. The last time I looked, Apple's advice should a patch go horribly wrong was 'Reinstall the machine and restore your data from backup. On the other hand, it is only Unix, so if you can get a terminal session it's notionally fixable) and the dreadful b0rkage of any mail client that isn't Thunderbird.

Anyway. Being a tiresome old Unix admin (I think I am now one of those mythical 'fat guys who know C++') I have an IBM keyboard that last saw regular use when attached to an XT286. It's one of the later ones, so it's got the cable with the connectors at both ends (instead of a grommet) and the plastic upper chassis, so you can't pry the works open in case of a severe liquid spill, but still. It is big and heavy and lovely. And doesn't have what has become the 'standard' keyboard layout due to revisionism and cost-cutting.

Since I'm a crap Apple user I rather like keyboard shortcuts, and the lack of a 'splat' key makes life hard.

KeyRemap4MacBook makes life much less hard. @ and " and # are in the right places! I don't appear to be at home to RSI! Profit! (At the possible expense of far too many options and an invitation to hand-edit XML if otherwise unsatisfied. One would have to be using some freak-special like a Maltron for that...)

Comments

[stilettowhore.livejournal.com]

Model M with a rs485 connector on the keyboard end? I give you credit, that's damn old. I have one at work I'm keeping as a spare in case my primary ones at home and the office ever die.

[hazeii.livejournal.com]

I bought a shedload of MCK142s when I realised cheap tat was going to trump proper keyboards (I also have a couple of Northgates, a fistful of EECO's and something awfully IBM-ish).

They all work perfectly on modern systems with PS2/USB adapters (plus a cable converter for 5-pin DIN to PS/2). Plus for extra control it's not hard to fake an AT keyboard interface with some bit-banging software; slightly longer term is to replace the keyboard 8051 with a USB PIC.

It took me 15 years to get over IBM swapping Caps Lock and Control from the DEC layout, BTW.
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