Personally nothing but when I look at it I wonder if the big bang could actually have been a white hole.
- Meta by itself just opens the launcher thingy in KDE so I can search for an app.
- Meta + T = Open terminal
- Meta + E = Open Dolphin (this is a Windows holdover, Meta + E opened Explorer but it’s kind of hard-coded into my brain now)
- Meta + F = Open Firefox
I think that’s all of them.
Meta+T opens a terminal about once every 5 minutes on my machine.
It opens my programs menu (or start menu to use the Windows vernacular). It’s still incredibly useful for me to have it that way
The “Windows” key is just called “Meta” (Edit: or more commonly “Super”) key in Linux. It’s used for hotkeys, especially stuff that has to do with window management. I also set a simple press on it without other keys, which would open up “krunner” (to search or run apps).
KDE mostly calls it Meta, GNOME calls it “Super”.
Only GNOME thinks windows is super…
I’ve also seen GUI used (e.g. by QMK)
Right, I completely forgot about “Super”. It might even be the more common term.
AFAIK, only KDE calls it Meta, everything else tends to use Super.
It’s for window management related hotkeys. Obviously. All about windows. With a lowercase “w”.
To open the App Menu, and for a mod key, same as in Windows
The default for Gnome. It’s a really useful app switcher.
Came here to say this. Basically, the same way it’s used in Windows. I hit the key, type a few characters and I launch the app I seek.
Exactly. I love Gnome for this.
I map it to the panel menu that most DEs still include. Unless you’re Gnome, in which case you may as well use a joy stick to navigate that GUI.
It’s my Super key. It’s used for like everything in my DE (Hyprland).
It opens up anyrun.
Ritual sacrifice to the penguin god
The only correct answer here.
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No differently than it’s used in Windows, plus a few more key-chords that utilize it. That’s the default in GNOME and KDE at least, and probably other DEs as well.
I’m more interested in what people do with that strange menu key sitting next to my touch-starved right-CTRL. I know it’s for pulling up the context menu, but I have literally never used it for any reason. When I’m 100% keyboard, I’m probably in a terminal and it won’t do anything any way.
The menu key is a convenient place to put the compose key.
I’m using it for spell checking in Firefox — Menu, then ‘o’ mnemonic to add to the dictionary etc.
Use as
$metain my .i3/config, so … lots of things.I don’t have one. In its place I have a meta key with a diamond design on the keycap. Why would I need a “Windows” key if I haven’t used Windows in over a decade?
This
I don’t have one. If I did, I want change the keycap.
Now… it’s called a meta key https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_key … and I use it exactly as one would on Windows, e.g. Meta-e starts the file explorer … but I added my shortcuts too e.g. :
- meta+k for konsole
- meta+f for FIP (online French radio, music only, no ads)
- meta+F to stop FIP
- meta+a to play the series I’m currently watching
- meta+A to stop mpv (playing the current series)
- meta+o to turn on my office lights
- meta+l to turn off those lights
- meta+ESC to turn off lights and suspend computer
- meta+s for Spectacle to take a screenshot
and I have quite a others I can’t recall right now.
As far as I am aware, the “Windows” key is generally mapped as the Super key, not he Meta key.
My bad then, as I mentioned before unfortunately I have no such keyboard available anymore.
No problem, though I must admit I’m curious about your keyboard as it is quite uncommon to not have one. Are you using an older keyboard that lacks one or one of the “winkeyless” enthusiast mechanical keyboards or maybe a really small form factor keyboard?
one of the “winkeyless” enthusiast mechanical keyboards…
That’s me, in fact you can see my keymap at https://github.com/Utopiah/zmk-config-zen-2/blob/main/config/corneish_zen.keymap#L27 for my Corne-ish Zen 3x6
Corne-ish Zen 3x6 I can definitely see why you don’t have a dedicated Windows/Super key then. I do find Super… ahem… super useful though, so you my consider adding it to a layer if it isn’t already there. I was never able to adapt to any of the smaller split or ortho keyboard layouts. I sold my OG Ergodox after stubbornly trying to use it for so long. My only winkeyless boards now are my vintage keyboards that predate the windows key.
What kind of use case for Super over meta do think I’m missing? Like I said if I do meta-e I get in KDE Plasma the file explorer, Dolphin, isn’t it also the behavior you get?
sold my OG Ergodox
I basically forced myself to use it and it was a good transition from the Microsoft Sculpt but now that I’m a 3x6 I don’t want to go back ;)
Transition is always tricky and I find that NOT having a project to rush on for few weeks at least is what I need.
It isn’t a different use case at all, it is that only KDE calls it meta. Everything else that I know of calls it super. If you’re a KDE user, you’re using it just fine, it is just weird that KDE is the odd man out, especially since meta was traditionally already associated with the alt key. I’m sure someone at KDE had some reason for it and at this point they see no reason to change.
I’ve used Linux since 1998, and several DEs. I’ve never heard the Windows key referred to as a “meta” key.
