[PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Ramkumar Ramachandra]

Like in Vim.

Cc: Michal Marek <mmarek@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com>
---
 Unsure why nobody has done this yet.

 scripts/kconfig/lxdialog/menubox.c | 5 +++--
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/lxdialog/menubox.c b/scripts/kconfig/lxdialog/menubox.c
index 38cd69c..17fd936 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/lxdialog/menubox.c
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/lxdialog/menubox.c
@@ -307,11 +307,12 @@ do_resize:
 		    (i < max_choice ||
 		     key == KEY_UP || key == KEY_DOWN ||
 		     key == '-' || key == '+' ||
+		     key == 'j' || key == 'k' ||
 		     key == KEY_PPAGE || key == KEY_NPAGE)) {
 			/* Remove highligt of current item */
 			print_item(scroll + choice, choice, FALSE);
 
-			if (key == KEY_UP || key == '-') {
+			if (key == KEY_UP || key == '-' || key == 'k') {
 				if (choice < 2 && scroll) {
 					/* Scroll menu down */
 					do_scroll(menu, &scroll, -1);
@@ -320,7 +321,7 @@ do_resize:
 				} else
 					choice = MAX(choice - 1, 0);
 
-			} else if (key == KEY_DOWN || key == '+') {
+			} else if (key == KEY_DOWN || key == '+' || key == 'j') {
 				print_item(scroll+choice, choice, FALSE);
 
 				if ((choice > max_choice - 3) &&
-- 
1.8.3.2.722.g3244e19.dirty

Re: [PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Rob Landley]

On 07/05/2013 06:32:59 AM, Ramkumar Ramachandra wrote:
> Like in Vim.
> 
> Cc: Michal Marek <mmarek@suse.cz>
> Signed-off-by: Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com>
> ---
>  Unsure why nobody has done this yet.

While you're at it, why don't you add the ws up and down bindings from  
World of Warcraft?

The reason nobody has done this yet is that vi predates the invention  
of cursor keys. They keyboards Bill Joy was using in the 1970's did not  
have standardized cursor keys, in large part because you can't cursor  
around on a teletype printer. Once people started using "glass tty"  
devices (vt100 and such) cursor keys got standardized within a few  
years. They were reasonably ubiquitous by the time the IBM PC showed up  
(the vic 20 and commodore 64 and such all had them; anything that  
displayed to a television instead of through a daisy wheel).

They also didn't have ALT or control keys. The vi modal interface is a  
legacy of not having any standardized keys on the keyboard except  
letters, numbers, and (for 8 bit machines) shift. (There's a song  
"double bucky" to the tune of "Rubber Ducky" that commemorates a  
particular bespoke keyboard design from MIT in the 1970's.) Even the  
punctuation was potluck for a while there, although they could copy  
manual typewriters and the IBM selectric and such for some of that.

And now you know _why_ Linux is over 20 years old and has never needed  
this.

Rob

Re: [PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Ramkumar Ramachandra]

Rob Landley wrote:
>>  Unsure why nobody has done this yet.
>
> [...]
> And now you know _why_ Linux is over 20 years old and has never needed this.

I was just asking out of curiosity: I'm not old enough to know that
much history.  Isn't it a nice convenience to have _now_?  Or do you
have something against it?

Re: [PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Sören Brinkmann]

On Sat, Jul 06, 2013 at 06:00:05PM -0500, Rob Landley wrote:
> On 07/05/2013 06:32:59 AM, Ramkumar Ramachandra wrote:
> >Like in Vim.
> >
> >Cc: Michal Marek <mmarek@suse.cz>
> >Signed-off-by: Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com>
> >---
> > Unsure why nobody has done this yet.
> 
> While you're at it, why don't you add the ws up and down bindings
> from World of Warcraft?
> 
> The reason nobody has done this yet is that vi predates the
> invention of cursor keys. They keyboards Bill Joy was using in the
> 1970's did not have standardized cursor keys, in large part because
> you can't cursor around on a teletype printer. Once people started
> using "glass tty" devices (vt100 and such) cursor keys got
> standardized within a few years. They were reasonably ubiquitous by
> the time the IBM PC showed up (the vic 20 and commodore 64 and such
> all had them; anything that displayed to a television instead of
> through a daisy wheel).
> 
> They also didn't have ALT or control keys. The vi modal interface is
> a legacy of not having any standardized keys on the keyboard except
> letters, numbers, and (for 8 bit machines) shift. (There's a song
> "double bucky" to the tune of "Rubber Ducky" that commemorates a
> particular bespoke keyboard design from MIT in the 1970's.) Even the
> punctuation was potluck for a while there, although they could copy
> manual typewriters and the IBM selectric and such for some of that.
> 
> And now you know _why_ Linux is over 20 years old and has never
> needed this.
Well, one advantage of these key bindings is, that you don't have to
move your hands away from the base line. And as vim user I find myself
using vim key sequences in all tools. I cannot even count how many
processes I accidentally killed because I tried to scroll using 'k' in
htop where it does 'kill'.

In a nutshell: I'm all for vim key bindings everywhere!

But on the other hand, I can see that it might lead straight to chaos when
everybody pushes his favorite key bindings.

	Sören

Re: [PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Rob Landley]

On 07/08/2013 06:08:41 PM, Sören Brinkmann wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 06, 2013 at 06:00:05PM -0500, Rob Landley wrote:
> > On 07/05/2013 06:32:59 AM, Ramkumar Ramachandra wrote:
> > >Like in Vim.
> > >
> > >Cc: Michal Marek <mmarek@suse.cz>
> > >Signed-off-by: Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com>
> > >---
> > > Unsure why nobody has done this yet.
> >
> > While you're at it, why don't you add the ws up and down bindings
> > from World of Warcraft?
> >
> > The reason nobody has done this yet is that vi predates the
> > invention of cursor keys. They keyboards Bill Joy was using in the
...
> > And now you know _why_ Linux is over 20 years old and has never
> > needed this.
> 
> Well, one advantage of these key bindings is, that you don't have to
> move your hands away from the base line. And as vim user I find myself
> using vim key sequences in all tools. I cannot even count how many
> processes I accidentally killed because I tried to scroll using 'k' in
> htop where it does 'kill'.

A ringing endorsement.

Rob

Re: [PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Heimo Stranner]

> Well, one advantage of these key bindings is, that you don't have to
> move your hands away from the base line. And as vim user I find myself
> using vim key sequences in all tools. I cannot even count how many
> processes I accidentally killed because I tried to scroll using 'k' in
> htop where it does 'kill'.
>
> In a nutshell: I'm all for vim key bindings everywhere!
>
I can't agree more!

Because vim key bindings are rather common I can't see a problem if this
patch is applied.

Re: [PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Steven Noonan]

On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 9:55 AM, Heimo Stranner <heimo@stranner.org> wrote:
>
>> Well, one advantage of these key bindings is, that you don't have to
>> move your hands away from the base line. And as vim user I find myself
>> using vim key sequences in all tools. I cannot even count how many
>> processes I accidentally killed because I tried to scroll using 'k' in
>> htop where it does 'kill'.
>>
>> In a nutshell: I'm all for vim key bindings everywhere!
>>
> I can't agree more!
>
> Because vim key bindings are rather common I can't see a problem if this
> patch is applied.

The biggest problem I see is the conflict between j/k and the letter
shortcuts used to jump to specific menu items (the letter highlighted
in blue on each item). But I haven't ever used that functionality in
practice, so who knows.

Re: [PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Heimo Stranner]

On 2013-07-09 19:07, Steven Noonan wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 9:55 AM, Heimo Stranner <heimo@stranner.org> wrote:
>>> Well, one advantage of these key bindings is, that you don't have to
>>> move your hands away from the base line. And as vim user I find myself
>>> using vim key sequences in all tools. I cannot even count how many
>>> processes I accidentally killed because I tried to scroll using 'k' in
>>> htop where it does 'kill'.
>>>
>>> In a nutshell: I'm all for vim key bindings everywhere!
>>>
>> I can't agree more!
>>
>> Because vim key bindings are rather common I can't see a problem if this
>> patch is applied.
> The biggest problem I see is the conflict between j/k and the letter
> shortcuts used to jump to specific menu items (the letter highlighted
> in blue on each item). But I haven't ever used that functionality in
> practice, so who knows.
I haven't thought about that. Obviously you are right, "Kernel hacking"
and "Kernel compression mode" just being two examples that use k which I
found in a very quick search.

Re: [PATCH] menuconfig: Allow j/k to move down/up the menu

[Michal Marek]

Dne 9.7.2013 01:08, Sören Brinkmann napsal(a):
> On Sat, Jul 06, 2013 at 06:00:05PM -0500, Rob Landley wrote:
>> On 07/05/2013 06:32:59 AM, Ramkumar Ramachandra wrote:
>>> Like in Vim.
>>>
>>> Cc: Michal Marek <mmarek@suse.cz>
>>> Signed-off-by: Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com>
>>> ---
>>> Unsure why nobody has done this yet.
>>
>> While you're at it, why don't you add the ws up and down bindings
>> from World of Warcraft?
>>
[...]
> Well, one advantage of these key bindings is, that you don't have to
> move your hands away from the base line. And as vim user I find myself
> using vim key sequences in all tools.

One issue here is that j and k are already taken. Letters other than
h/m/n/y are used as hotkeys in menuconfig/nconf, if there is a menu item
starting with the respective letter. So at a minimum, the patch would
have to add j and k to the reserved set.

Michal