Sun keyboard

As I sit here in a public computer cluster, I notice a rather interesting phenomenon about this Sun Type 5c keyboard: all of the keys can "flip up." Just lift the back part of the key slightly, and it will stay in that position until you push hard enough to restore it to position 0. This works with all of the keys that do not have LEDs in them, namely Caps Lock, Compose, Scroll Lock, and Num Lock. It also does not work with the space bar.

Leaving a public workstation with over 100 keys flipped up can lead to very amusing episodes. Primarily, it just makes it very awkward to type.

In order to manage Unix systems one should ideally have an X based workstation or at the very least a PC X server available. Most people opt for a workstation such as a sparc 5 or an ultra 5. These have a multitude of keyboard layouts, the most common being a type 5 keyboard - the one where a mouse plugs into the underside of the keyboard.

Now, in any decent sized organisation the said sysadmin will also have to use windows to at least read company email - typically using an application such as lotes or Outhouse.

So we have two keyboard layouts on the desk. Those who have sufffered this before will know what I'm talking about. The backspace and caps-lock keys are in not-quite-the-right-position.

This is a cause of great frustration when switching between working on a Sun and working on a PC.

Thankfully, there's now a Sun keyboard that is laid out the same as your regular 101 keyboard - no windows keys, of course.