In love with keyboard shortcuts

[aysiu]

I forget which helpful soul (there are so many on these forums) pointed me to Applications > System Tools > Configuration Editor > Apps > Metacity > Global Keybindings/ Keybinding Commands, but thank you so much!

Every time I'm on Windows or Mac, that's really the thing that frustrates me--not having a keyboard shortcut for everything!

My wife minimizes a window in Mac OS X, and all of a sudden Cmd-Tab won't unminimize it. Expose won't recognize it. There's no way by keyboard that I can bring that window back.

Theoretically, in Windows, I can create keyboard shortcuts for all the icons on my quick-launch toolbar, but I haven't found this to really work on my work or home computer (Is there anyone running Windows 2000 or XP who has been able to get this to work? If so, is there some special trick? Please let me know).

In Gnome, I've got keyboard shortcuts for...

Showing the desktop
Running a command
xkill
Emptying the trash
Showing the applications menu
Running a CD using Qemu
Firefox
Thunderbird
JuK
the terminal
Screenshots
Delayed screenshots
Logging out
Synaptic Package Manager
Launching Nautilus as root
Opening the /home folder
Filezilla
Skipping to the next music track (global--not just when JuK is in focus)
Switching active windows

That's it. Do you all use keyboard shortcuts? If so, what's your list look like? If not, why not? Just curious.

[Rackerz]

I love shortcuts. I always create them for opening programs, mainly for Firefox and Media Player (Amarok, Rythmbox in Linux).

[Kvark]

I love keyboard shortcuts too! Let me put it this way... I use Ratpoison, keyboard shortcuts is all it has. It doesn't have panels, menues, desktop folder, windows or any of those other point and click widgets. The only thing on the screen is the program I'm using in fullscreen or sometimes several programs in split screen.


Here are some of my shortcuts... Wait, first please note that I use the Windows-keys siwtch focus from program to Ratpoison. So before any of these shortcuts I hit one of the Windows keys, that way they don't interfare with programs' keyboard shortcuts.

Shift+F = New Firefox window.
Shift+T = New Terminal window.
Shift+S = New Synaptic window.
...and so on, Shift+something for starting all the programs.

7 = Switch to window number 7
U = Switch to window number 17 (U is 1 step under 7)
J = Switch to window number 27 (J is 2 steps under 7)
...and this way I can reach up to 40 windows with two keystrokes, Windows key plus the window's number key.

Ctrl+F1 = Save current split screen arrangement to the F1 key.
F1 = Restore the split screen arrangement that is saved at F1.
...all the F# keys work in this way. Saving and restoring the positions of all the windows is basically the same thing as switching between workspaces. So I have 12 workspaces within 2 keystrokes.

Ctrl+K = Close window.
Ctrl+Shift+K = Kill window.
Ctrl+S = horizontal split screen.
Ctrl+Shift+S = vertical split screen.
...and all other actions Ratpoison can do are on Ctrl+something, with alternative versions of the same actions on Ctrl+Shift+something.


Why do I like keyboard shortcuts... I find it a lot easier to hit Shift+F to start Firefox then to navigate a menu to find it. And hitting a number key much easier then aiming at a tab in the panel taskbar or a program's tab bar. It also seems easier to hit Ctrl+S for splitscreen then to drag around and resize windows to arrange them next to eachother. The jungle of graphical menues and widgets all the popular DEs have that you have to navigate through to get to your programs are just too much of a distraction for me, a keystroke or two is easier IMO.

[BWF89]

Copy
Cut
Paste
New tab
Select All
Bold
Underline
Italisise
Print
Save
Undo

are the main ones I use

[majikstreet]

I use one...rarely... I have control+x mapped to xterm, but I don't really use it..

I'm a more "click" guy.

[BoyOfDestiny]

I use one...rarely... I have control+x mapped to xterm, but I don't really use it..

I'm a more "click" guy.

The default ctrl+x works as "cut" (ctrl+c being "copy" and ctrl+v being "paste", and ctrl+z is "undo", I think these make sense since they are close together on a qwerty keyboard...)

I wouldn't really map anything else to these...

[majikstreet]

The default ctrl+x works as "cut" (ctrl+c being "copy" and ctrl+v being "paste", and ctrl+z is "undo", I think these make sense since they are close together on a qwerty keyboard...)

I wouldn't really map anything else to these...
I know that.. I don't really use "cut" very much... I've only had a problem once.

[]Nbx*cmD[]

I use ratpoison too, but i have it combined with xbindkeys which lets me use the "multimedia keys" (x'D) like play, stop, volume...

For avoiding breaking my hand in some situations (you know, i'm a Vi guy, not used to press c-shift-alt-F7 with the same hand lol) i've written some scripts using ratmenu (if you don't know it just try it!! in ANY wm!)

Now i have a "textmode menu" which opens when i do c-t c-z and where i have all apps ordered and classified by my own cathegories.

That's the thing about rat, 100% fully costumizable ;)

[Jucato]

I love keyboard shortcuts, too! I have actually done away with most of the panels on my desktop and replaced it with keyboard shortcuts instead. I only left the system tray and a cool taskbar (it has window thumbnails), both of which hide automatically.

But I can't get rid of that "guilty" feeling that I'm mostly using that key with a distorted window shape. Hopefully I can get/make a teeny-weeny image of Tux to stick on that key. :D

Some of the keyboard shortcuts I use:
Alt +Tab is mapped to launch Kompose (yeah, I removed the conventional window switcher)
Alt + Space to launch Katapult (I rarely use the K Menu)
Win + Space to launch the K Menu wherever my mouse pointer is (for those rare times I use it. But the button/launcher isn't present on the desktop)
Win + Z, X, C, V, B for amaroK (previous track, play, pause, stop, next track respectively)
Ctrl + Alt + A, Z for volume up, down, respectively (I wish I had one of those multimedia keyboards...)

[GeneralZod]

Alt+V for VNC'ing into my desktop is the one I used most, plus Win+H for hibernating my laptop :)

[BoyOfDestiny]

My favorites,

ctrl + x cut
ctrl + c copy
ctrl + v paste
ctrl + z undo

alt + f4 close app
alt + tab switch app

in gnome terminal
ctrl + shift + c copy
ctrl + shift + v paste
ctrl + shift + t new tab
ctrl + shift + w close tab/window
tab completion... I love tab completion! (press tab key while typing a folder or filename, and in some cases commands =) )

[Jucato]

I've noticed one thing no one has a keyboard shortcut to tell the wife you need a beer or what have you be pretty easy to do aswell tut tut but yeah I ain't sure if that is sexist but lasses could use the short cut key aswell so I'm guessing not but yeah a key for getting the kid or wife to grab you a beer would be ace.

Make it annoying aswell so they don't just ignore it aswell

Well, if you had a text-to-speech app (KTTS for KDE users), I guess you could map a keyboard shortcut to let is say what you wanted. But then it would do that in a very... weird voice. :D

@BoyOfDestiny: oh yeah I forgot about tab completion. Single, most useful keystroke I've ever met, whether in CLI or GUI (I use it in Konqueror A LOT). Also forgot the Up key in the terminal, for going through the history of commands.

[majikstreet]

right now I just have the menu key as the compose key so I can type accents.. français é è ô ö

[Project 318]

With xbindkeys,
WinKey + R = gmrun
WinKey + F = firefox
WinKey + M = rhythmbox
WinKey + G = gaim
WinKey + H = rox
WinKey + End = terminal
WinKey + L = xscreensaver-command -lock
Alt + Prt Sc = scrot
Ctrl + Alt + Prt Sc = scrot -s

Then in firefox,
Ctrl + T = new tab
Ctrl + F = search
Ctrl + K = jump to search
Ctrl + L = jump to address bar
Ctrl + Y = open download manager
Ctrl + Tab = switch tab
Ctrl + Q = open sidebar

All of the copy, paste, cut, bold, italics, and underline shortcuts

And the most useful with bbkeys,
Alt + Tab

[Parkotron]

Shortcuts combined with the minicli have completely removed the need for the Menu on my system. In fact, I love using the windows key for global shortcuts so much that I wrote a "HOWTO" (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=120001) trying to convince others of its merits.

Anyway, my personal favourite is replacing alt+F2 with win+menu. It's like the easiest keyboard shortcut to hit ever! Just extend the index and middle finger and drop them at the bottom of the keyboard.

[angkor]

Love the keyboard-shortcuts!! Use em as much as I can cause I prefer working with the keyboard in stead of the mouse. Works faster for me that way too.

On a side note, it's really nice to have all your multimedia keys working as well. I recently installed this program and it did the trick for me.

http://keytouch.sourceforge.net/

There's an Ubuntu package available.

[Pekkalainen]

I want to be able to write turkish characters without a hassle, is there any way to bind them to regular keys like ctrl-S = Ş ?