Mac terminals yield a similar benefit, with the systemwide copy/paste Cmd+C/V not overlapping with Ctrl+C/V.

Being used to that, Linux terminals become rather annoying. Yes there's other ways under Linux, but they don't have 25+ years of muscle memory associated with them, and so when the key shortcuts don't work as expected it's like nails on a chalkboard.

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jack_pp 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Heh, shortcut muscle memory is the reason I returned my Mac mini one week after trying it. I sure am not gonna remap my brain for apple after 20 years of Linux and windows.

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nsagent 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Maybe you mean it's too much effort, because I'm sure you could. I was taught touch typing on a QWERTY keyboard in the summer between 6th and 7th grade. Last year I switched to Colemak after nearly 30 years of QWERTY.

	▲	jack_pp 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Oh I have no doubt that I could but I don't see why since linux already does what I need and I don't see any compelling reason to switch. I was just curious to see what all the hype was about with the new m1 CPUs and give it a shot.

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computably 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

It's easy and reasonably quick to set up key remapping (via Karabiner).

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taftster 3 days ago | parent [-]

Yes, but specifically in the context of Terminals (as discussed in the original article), it's really convenient to be able send Ctrl-C (break) differently than Cmd-C (copy).

So yes keyboard remapping is an option. But there's just differences you can't remap because of the extra meta keys on Mac (and I guess on Windows too, with the Copilot or Start keys in play).

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inejge 3 days ago | parent [-]

> it's really convenient to be able send Ctrl-C (break) differently than Cmd-C (copy)

Right, and even on Linux you can do it by using the four-fifths forgotten CUA shortcut Ctrl-Insert for copy (and Shift-Insert for paste.) Although I'll admit to using Ctrl-Shift-C/V most of the time.

	▲	Ghoelian 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		My keyboard doesn't even have an insert key.

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kps 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are *nix terminals that will let you bind shortcuts that don't conflict with terminal control keys. Konsole and KDE stuff in general will let you set Mac-style bindings (with some config effort), though I personally use mlterm.

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sunshowers 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The tradeoff here is that Macs don't have a system key that most applications don't interpret in some way. On Windows and Linux, system key shortcuts are much easier to set up.

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taftster 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I really do like Cmd key usage for any terminal in Mac. The ability to send Ctrl+C differently than Cmd+C in a Mac is joyous.

However, for most all other applications in Mac, I dislike the Mac command key. Especially in IDEs like vscode, etc.

And I really hate that the actual Ctrl key on a Mac is in the wrong place, having swapped places with Fn. It's like the first thing I have to remember to do on each Mac setup, swap those two keys.

Because I'm toggling between mac/windows/linux all day long, my poor muscle memory is always confused. And it would be nice if this could be unified. Unfortunately, I'm guessing it would have to be solved more by Apple than by Microsoft or Linux.

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kace91 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

What do you dislike about cmd placement?

I feel the opposite, the near-thumb position for the most used modifier is a godsend vs pinky strain.

Ctrl in caps lock is debatably better but that key is arguably better used for esc in vim setups (or the harder to setup “ctrl if held, esc if tapped”).

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phantasmish 2 days ago | parent [-]

cmd is brilliant. I have to shift my entire hand downward a little to hit ctr+c/ctrl-v, and make a pinkie-stretch that I can feel straining my hand. Cmd+c/v keeps three fingers on the home row, and involves just a slide-over of the thumb by maybe a centimeter. It's great.

caps-as-an-extra-ctrl helps with all of that, but leaves you with the problem of overlapping shortcuts in the terminal. Cmd also fixes that.

I hate how hard it is to get anything remotely like it working in Linux. All the solutions are partial and very janky.

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cosmic_cheese 2 days ago | parent [-]

It’s a sentiment I’ve expressed many times here on HN, but I’d love to see a DE and matching set of apps designed to embrace Mac-like UX, including meta-based key shortcuts. It being like that out of the box instead of requiring a patchwork of spotty config changes and hacks brings massive value.

	▲	kace91 a day ago \| parent [-]
		This is the closest thing I know, not ideal but decent: https://github.com/RedBearAK/Toshy

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cosmic_cheese 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

On all my machines I remap Caps Lock to Control, and since I still use Control from time to time under macOS, I have muscle memory for it, and so switching between Control/Command dominance is low friction.

Control in its typical position however drives me crazy.