New French keyboard layout in the works

[rodtang]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/world ... pists.html

[kbdfr]

Interesting, but the author seems to never have seen an AZERTY keyboard:

But typing other characters like the cedilla (ç) […] can require complex keyboard shortcuts that are hard to master.

ç is one of the characters present on AZERTY with no modifier nor Shift required.

[Matt_]

I am surprised to see that all those recent articles on the subject seem to imply that our keyboards are badly desiggned and that we need new ones.

But we don't need new keyboards, we don't need new keys (wait — yes we need new keycaps, but not fortthat reson), we just need a new logical layout (defined in the OS preferences), right? And to learn to use it without relying on legends printed on current keyboards of course.

[mecano]

Frankly the azerty layout makes no sense, talking about the cedilla it is more used in french than the k, now look where these two keys are positioned. Hope the Afnor will have a look at bépo and such. No direct access to number like in qwerty is a HUGE flaw. And, in a world where software shortcuts are based on qwerty (and more than often by far logical and easy to reach when you use qwerty) and if you want to code you have no better choice than use qwerty, relocate dead keys and special characters or use the default option/alt layer than is not so bad for somes (cedilla beeing alt+c on OSX is quiet usable). Now we do need new keyboards we need unicode flashable/programmable keyboards and please not staggered I concur keycaps must be blanck!

[mecano]

Another solution will be we all switch to Italian which kept the inflexion with minimal accentuation characters where French developped a plethora of fixes that are now irrelevant because of the way a lot of words have lost their original pronunciations. Also French having drifted away from it latin roots in such manners the logic has shifted out going to a better logical language closer to the roots that allow a better understanding of the language and the world you live in will be the best. We can keep the few Gauls words of course, the ones that survived modern times and the death of the woods and craftmen society. I had a good laugh reading about regional languages in the article, like Occitan which with it Occitanism counterpart is for the most a funny romantic invention and not a widespread and unified linguistic and cultural reality (most pro Occitan people and historians are encompassing territories that are not speaking the same language in their vision of the great Occitan Reich) and since catalans have officialy parted from this movement it is becoming more and more funny What a mess...

The norm would not be mandatory, but would give manufacturers, software developers and others a common reference point, and could be used as a condition in government procurement.

Useless... and we will pay to add to the confusion Beautiful.

[kbdfr]

[…] Also French having drifted away from it latin roots in such manners the logic has shifted out going to a better logical language closer to the roots that allow a better understanding of the language and the world you live in will be the best. […]

Wouldn't it be even easier if we all gave up our languages and switched to English?
Or, in other words: you are talking nonsense

[mecano]

I'm not talking about an egemonical projection but about benificence.
I don't think English could be the best for us, it is another move away from the roots and hence the logic we are half taught because of the limitation (through particulary the description of the course of time) and approximation of the words meaning through shifting of our language. The good things it could bring, would be to bring back uses and words borrowed from French that have now disapeared from our dictionnaries because of fashionable minds but still live through English.
But what can you expect from such half backed stupid reforms?
At least some get the money for such useless job noone will care for.

[Findecanor]

I think France should look at adopting either:
- Canadian French keboard layout
- Swiss French keyboard layout
Instead of reinventing the wheel