Re: [tlug] Newbie buying a computer and installing Linux on it

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

>>>>> "Joseph" == Joseph Essertier <essertier@example.com> writes:

    Joseph> Okay.  So it is risky.  But how hard is it to get an
    Joseph> American keyboard on a laptop in Japan? (And i'm leaning
    Joseph> towards a laptop now).  I imagine one could order one new
    Joseph> from a store here, but it would take extra long to get it.

It's not easy, and you would definitely pay a premium for it (on the
order of Toyota vs. BMW :-).

But think carefully about whether you want a non-Japanese keyboard.
True, it will take anywhere from 10 minutes (my experience, but then I
learned to type on a Selectric and to program on ADMs and Hazeltines)
to 10 weeks (I don't know any examples, just being conservative ;-) to
get used to it.  However, the layout is preferable in at least three
ways: the control key is in a much more ergonomic position, several
other characters have better bindings (specifically the colon,
asterisk, and---if you're going to be working with the system as
opposed to just applications---braces and brackets), and (for Japanese
mode) you will have obvious bindings for input control.  Also, you
will find it very frustrating if you have to borrow a neighbor's
computer.

You may still decide to go for the American keyboard, but those are
advantages to the Japanese keyboard that you may not have thought about.


-- 
School of Systems and Information Engineering http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp
University of Tsukuba                    Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN
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