October 2019 - boston-lisp - mailman3.common-lisp.net

LISP Machines: Keyboards and Keybindings
by Nicholas Papadonis 29 Oct '19

29 Oct '19

I'm researching human input devices to these machine and their mapping to Zmacs and Emacs. Circulating to Emacs list as well. Does anyone have insight into the Zmacs keybindings for the Symbolics Space Cadet and/or Knight SAIL keyboards? Also any historical input on early Emacs keybindings? I am suspicious of where the Emacs mapping of Meta and Control initially appeared. For instance on the Knight SAIL (see link below), Meta is much too far for either hand to rotate to without lifting off the keyboard. I have been told that the CTRL key on this keyboard is optimally place so the hand rotates 30 degrees, exposing a row of diagonal keys which the other hand can access. Also, the RUB OUT key is more optimally placed and much easier than performing M-x delete on modern Emacs. I am also suspicious that the Emacs Meta key is really the ALT key above rubout on the Knight keyboard. This would make the Knight keyboard much more efficient in Emacs. I'm less certain for the Symbolics Space Cadet which seems less ergonomic and less minimalistic. I tried sales(a)symbolics-dks.com and have yet to receive a response. Appreciated any guidance folks may have. Also any pointers to patents that include these machines, software or keyboards. I'm not even sure what companies or grantees to search under. Images: http://nickpapadonis.com/images-share/keyb/imac-knight.png http://nickpapadonis.com/images-share/keyb/imac-symbolics-lmi.png Thanks!

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Emacs Keybindings for early LISP keyboards and modern usage?
by Nicholas Papadonis 24 Oct '19

24 Oct '19

Does anyone know the physical to functional keybindings for early LISP Machine keyboards, Symbols, Knight, Space Cadet etc featured here: http://xahlee.info/kbd/lisp_keyboards.html I did an analysis against the Space Cadet against my iMac Bluetooth keyboard. Here are some rough samples because physical mapping is not 1-1: iMac. Symbolics Space Cadet Command Left/Right Space or no key Option Left. Control Control Left. Control Fn Left Meta Option Right. Control Left Arrow Right. Control Up/Down Arrow Right Meta Caps Lock Alt Mode or Rub Out (Delete under char?) Tab Network or Tab To further summarize my inquiry, I'm wondering: o If there was any physical reason for the placement of the keys on the early LISP keyboards? Perhaps frequency of that particular input as a key in editing LISP code? o Is there any key mapping of these LISP machine keyboards to Emacs functions? (Emacs had been around at that time) o Did the Emacs functional keybindings (M-x) for instance change over time? For instance did the early LISP keyboards Meta key + x, correspond to M-x of was it different? o Has anyone created a similar physical mapping of the iMac Bluetooth keyboard with above in mind from a physical to Emacs functional perspective? I also noted that there are arrow keys above g,h,k,l. For instance, were these used to move the cursor? If so, I would argue they are better placement then modern arrow keys and/or Alt-n Alt-p, for cursor movement. I'm also suspicious that the Space Cadet ALT MODE which is close to the iMac TAB may be the original mapping to Meta functionality because it corresponds easily to the pinky figure. Finally, does someone have one of these keyboards because I would love to try one out. :) Appreciate anyone's guidance on this.

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Meeting
by Jonathan Godbout 17 Oct '19

17 Oct '19

We're in the lobby near the door, please avoid the larger mit mba line.

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Lisp Meetup
by Jonathan Godbout 17 Oct '19

17 Oct '19

Just a reminder the meetup is today at 7:00 (https://common-lisp.net/project/boston-lisp/) If your coming and haven't registered yet please do so https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8_tFCIgWzkIqfkB8z_UXXh4u0m61fkKk… Look forward to seeing you there!

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Previous and Future Meetings
by Jonathan Godbout 05 Oct '19

05 Oct '19

Thank you Masataro for your great talk Thursday. You can find a link to his paper and his Github account in the Past Meetings page: https://common-lisp.net/project/boston-lisp/past-meetings.html If you have a talk you would like to give please send a message or carrier pigeon!

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