Laptops - French keyboard vs English? (Canadian)

[AllRadioisDead]

Hm, confusing.
How would that layout be described in an OS config and stuff like that ?

If I select "Belgian Keyboard", I get Belgian AZERTY (both Windows and Ubuntu)

If I'd select "French Keyboard", I'd expect French AZERTY, not the Canadian bilingual thing.

I know Windows offers a Canadian French keyboard, if I had to guess in Ubuntu it would be under English (Canadian)?
I might be wrong, because normally I use English (US).

[kaldor]

Hm, confusing.
How would that layout be described in an OS config and stuff like that ?

If I select "Belgian Keyboard", I get Belgian AZERTY (both Windows and Ubuntu)

If I'd select "French Keyboard", I'd expect French AZERTY, not the Canadian bilingual thing.

Are you on GNOME? If so, in Keyboard preferences add the layout by Country. Select Canada, and use French from the list.

[koenn]

Are you on GNOME? If so, in Keyboard preferences add the layout by Country. Select Canada, and use French from the list.

I usually set the keyboard to Belgian AZERTY when I install the OS.
I've been in a couple of situations where a system reverted to a default of US QWERTY key map after a crash. With an AZERTY keyboard attached to it, inputting a mildly complex password or even basic commands (with \ in DOS paths, | for pipes, ? for help ...) while the underlying keyboard is US QUERTY and all those characters are all over the place is, err, a challenge.

[koenn]

I know Windows offers a Canadian French keyboard,

I thinj I've seen this in a dropdown list or so. It made me wonder 'do the Canadians write their French so differently from the French that they need a specific Keyboard'. didn't occur to me that it would be a compromise between compatibility with English/US and facilities for writing Franch more easily

[AllRadioisDead]

Alright, I purchased the notebook. The keyboard is completely English, exactly as you described kaldor. Thanks! I'm really happy and I saved about $200!

[quadibloc]

The Canadian French keyboard is not an AZERTY layout, so in this respect it is the same as a conventional keyboard.

However, unlike the U.S. keyboard, it is an ISO keyboard rather than an ANSI keyboard. This means that it will cause some problems for some people: the left-hand shift key, and the Enter key, will be displaced from their positions on the keyboards one may be used to.