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Comment by jez | Hacker News Reader

This is my biggest complaint with keybindings on Linux/Windows, that Ctrl means “escape codes” in terminal emulator applications and “window/UI operations” in every other application.

By contrast, in macOS all the window/UI keybindings are typically Cmd (Cmd-W) which means that GUI applications attempting to layer on vi keybindings don’t have to also audit all the Ctrl keybindings that might be doing something wildly different compared to what vi users expect.

Cmd for UI and Ctrl for terminal just makes for such a nice default convention.

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I agree— having switched back to Windows five years ago, this is one of the biggest things I miss about the Mac hardware. Having a separate key just avoids the whole drama around whether Ctrl-C is "copy the thing" or "shut it all down", and which of those functions is going to get remapped to Ctrl-Shift-C and all the fallout from that.

Configurable windows managers on Linux let you code a “super” key. I like the Window key, since it serves no other purpose, and never overlaps with default bindings on Linux.

So the Cmd/Ctrl split on Mac maps nicely to the Win/Ctrl split on Linux.

While I do this too I understand the above complaint. I think naturally linux should have more of a system similar to what OSX does. I mean I'm constantly switching between OSX and Linux machines but more and more recently I've been at at mac computer while inside a linux system and that is very seemless because it is the GUI that fucks shit up. But now there's so much momentum that I'm not sure they can go back. I think the only way to make this correction is for a big distro like Ubuntu/Pop/Manjaro/Endeavor to switch to a default with alt or super as they windowed operating key but have the option to switch back (should be implemented in the install process and made clear and easy to undo. But without making it the default it'll always stay the other way. (first introduction should be non-default)).

Super is the "Windows" key (or the Command key), it's the "mod key" that can then be set to super or alt/meta or whatever.

For the reasons you suggest (WMs often heavily using the super key), I would not want it to be used in the macOS way as I have a few dozen keybinds I'd lose or have to remap then. Stuff like focusing or moving windows or workspaces. Emacs can also make use of the super key, though I don't know if it has anything bound using it by default.

The macOS approach is cool and makes some sense, but I wouldn't want it forced on me, and I'm kinda glad I didn't imprint on it.

This isn't true though. Control + arrow keys for example navigate desktops on MacOS. On Linux I can at least restrict my desktop environment's shortcuts to super, leaving the other mods open for applications. MacOS uses every single modifier, sometimes together.

When you use EXWM (Emacs X Window Manager), this is actually a blessing! It means you can bind Super keys only in Emacs and have them do exactly the same thing every time, while the other X apps (terminals, browsers...) get the Control key to themselves.

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