XKB overlay modifications: configurable latch key and adding XF86KbdBrightnessUp/Down

[mmirg]

Could the latch key for the overlay be configurable? Perhaps "search" could be the default, but the key could be changed through a crouton switch? It's not terribly difficult to manually edit the scripts but seems like it might be cleaner if it could be specified at install or update time. My thought was that some key combinations with super might be commonly used in certain WMs or DEs (for example, Cinnamon uses super + arrows for snapping). My personal preference has generally been to use one of the redundant keys (alt or ctrl) since it leaves the other one free for whatever it might have been used for before.

Also, ChromeOS maps the equivalent of XF86KbdBrightnessDown and Up to the alt+brightness keys. Should this be included in the xkb configuration through a second overlay or something or should it be left up to users to map in whatever they would like?

[drinkcat]

Well, nothing prevents you from remapping the keys. You could either: not load the chromebook keymap at all, or do something like:

xmodmap -e "keycode 133 = Super_L"

(and then remap Overlay1_Enable to whatever other key, and put the whole thing in some X11 init script). But this is down to your personal preference, so I do not think that kind of switch is something we would implement in crouton. If you get something that works nice, maybe you could put it on a wiki page, so other people can use it.

As for the Alt+* shortcuts. Yes, we are not supporting those (like Alt+arrows). It is very tricky (impossible?) to get something that maintains the normal Alt behaviour while providing the overlay, and most non-Chrome specific shortcuts are available through Search+key anyway.

Now, for alt+brightness, this is easy to implement in keylaunch, by getting alt+F6/F7 to call brightness down/up. Again, not something likely to be implement in crouton, as alt+F6/F7 might mean something for some apps, and we already have access to those keys with Search+F6/F7.