does anyone actually use the start button key on the keyboard?

@ariadne start button?

@luana windows key

@ariadne I don't remember that being a button lmao, do you mean home or is there actually a start button?

@ariadne yes, frequently. habit from normally running macos, i bind it to open app search on linux

@ariadne
Like the "windows/⌘" key? I did when I had a kb with one.

@ariadne Ah. Yeah I do use it

@ariadne I do! Works fine under KDE.

And back when I used AwesomeWM, it was the key you'd chord for the WM-management functions.

@ariadne i used to use it, when i ran windows 7 (when windows search was reasonably good) and on windows 8, but with some add-on software that restored that functionality (after windows 8 (or 10?) removed it)

@ariadne (i count microsoft's addition of useless search results, e.g. search hits from the app store, as "removal of the search feature")

@ariadne all the time, if you're talking about the meta key

@ariadne all the time, my daily driver runs Cinnamon and I use it to bring up the start menu (which has type-to-search focused) and one other DE I interact with works a similar way

@ariadne I mean it's got the Mac command or option keycap on it (I can never remember which is which lol) but yeah I do love me some super/meta keyboard shortcuts

@ariadne oh it's how I bring up the search for applications.

@ariadne very often

@ariadne Opening the system menu and locking the screen, primarily.

@ariadne does mod4 as WM shortcut prefix count in this context, or do you mean in Windows?

@ariadne On windows, I frequently use win+v (clipboard history) and win+. (emoji picker)

@ariadne Remapped to other functions, yes. I wish they had the Menu key on both sides too, then I could have another pair of modifier keys, but no, they had to include just the right-side one.

My current model also has 4 extra function keys above the keypad, but the replacement puts the LEDs there instead.

@ariadne i use super basically all the time, i used to on windows and i do on kde as well, i guess i could pose the reverse question, do people not?

@ariadne I didn't know it existed.

@ariadne yep, pretty much every day. On GNOME, it brings up the search bar which is really useful

@ariadne well no it doesn’t bring up the search bar but the overview menu which allows you to use the search bar

@ariadne

My key super key has lost some of it's paint cause all my sway keybinds use it 😅

@ariadne all the time

@ariadne very often. On gnome it's either that, an off-by-default widget, or a hot-corner (bleh) to launch the application menu (Which I'm perfectly fine with. I spend the vast majority of my time either in applications or in a terminal, so "press key, start typing" is perfectly natural and much faster than navigating a "start menu."). It also shows all open windows, so is quite useful for finding "hiding" modals that popped open behind other windows.

@becomethewaifu @ariadne I open the menu to search in my case, probably a holdover from when I used to main Windows

@ariadne yes. Win+L every time I stand up in front of my computer. It was pounded into us when I worked in an Actually Secure Network

@ariadne

The "windows key" is obviously for window managers, right?

@ariadne i use it for the applications menu on mint

@ariadne yeah, a lot. Gnome's defaults basically hardwired the key in my head as the 'window management' key, so I end up having it bound to basically everything to do with managing windows and applications on any system I'm using.

@ariadne
Switching between virtual desktops, screen locking…

In fact, I use it more often with Linux than Windows.

OTOH, I don't care what's printed on it or whatever it was intended for, I'll assign it to whatever I deem necessary or useful for me…

@ariadne it's probably useful for emacs.

@ariadne
I use it to move/resize windows without having to grab the edges (very useful on my 2K 14 inch laptop set to 100% text size) and use it as the basis of all my program launcher hotkeys.

[there's a reason they call it the "Super" key]

@f4grx @ariadne
at this point it's probably easier to find hardware that *isn't* useful for EMACS
(speaking as a Featherpad user)

@ariadne I run default KDE Plasma, so I use it pretty often to start apps.

@ariadne The real question is whether you use the Copilot key >:)

@tpaau17db save my thinkpad t14s, none of my computers have a copilot key. thank fucking christ.

@ariadne I think OEMs are more or less forced to put a Copilot key there if they want their device to be Microsoft-certified 😔

@tpaau17db as i said, the only computer i have with a copilot key is my thinkpad t14s. i do not typically buy 'microsoft-approved devices'.

@ariadne yea its my main mod key for my compositor

@ariadne always was , even on X :P

@fiore @ariadne fior

@ariadne all the time. I run sway and I don't want to use the Alt key.

@ariadne I bind command palette (one-line runner from powertools) to Win-Space, and then keyboard switch to Win-Shift-Space

There are a bunch of other useful shortcuts, too. Win-Ctrl-Left/Right for switching virtual desktops, and Win-S for snipping tool.