If you're only addressing one person, use a PM.
I'm not interested in the popularity vote or winning the keyboard polls though, only in a useable keyboard for the Pyra.
Which is what we're ALL after.
That is a point of debate.
My layout has : at AltGr + . and AltGr + Shift + , which does make it compatible.
It's a matter of opinion how pair ups should be. I think I coupled them up well.
Nope - you're missing the grander picture by using two examples. Reality is that EVERY keyboard pair needs to line up for DosBox and QEMU to be happy. That includes having | on shift+\, ? on shift+/, ~ on shift+`, etc... You matched 2 symbols and claimed compatibility - it doesn't work that way.
My layout has one Shift key on the L2 shoulder(like on Pandora) and, for those like ED and myself who prefer it, two shift keys on the keyboard. This is called choice because some people do not use the shoulder buttons as often as others.
I'm one of the people who doesn't use the shoulder buttons as often. I would just as soon have -none- of the modifiers on the shoulders or center top set. However, that only works if we can get a centered space bar - which does not look likely. Having three shift keys means one is double-mapped, which is one too many in this constrained key set.
It has two Alt keys(Left Alt as the Start button like on the Pandora) and the other, Right Alt, on R2 besides R1's Right Control. Our AltGr on the Pyra is not Alt.
And you don't find that confusing in the slightest? We've got to call this 'Fn/Meta/whatchawannacallit' key something other than AltGr, because it simply does not behave as and isn't an AltGr.
Insert sort of makes sense as + because - does match well with Delete. More so than calling them z and c. Both are usually found together around Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down, which are ABYX.
I agree that they should be Insert and Delete to mate up with Home, End, Page Up and Page Down. However, by labeling them with the + and -, you are labeling them with something OTHER than their function. Then the user is off searching for the actual + and - keys which are located on the lower left of your keyboard on AltGr (Fn) + D and F, which is nowhere near the top-right area that a normal keyboard user would expect.
Finally, symbol keys are roughly where they were on the Pandora, which much of the user base will transfer from.
The Pandora's keyboard was a mix of compromises and random assignments to 'make fit'. We can do FAR better than that on the Pyra.
Hey, if people want your layout then so be it. Good for them. They can chord themselves till the cows come home if they like. Shift + AltGr/Fn all they want for general symbols too.
On your layout? Not really. Expected symbol pairing is broken. Example, + is not on shift+=. Chording AltGr+Shift+S does not result in +, unless you're hiding a S-ton of hidden mappings.
I don't nor have I ever needed to convince others that there's doesn't work for mine to have merit. It has, and those who can see, will see it.
Your work has has merit. All of the layouts that grew since you made your first one have stood on your shoulders to generate their advancements. However, as new requirements have been discovered, your layout has not kept up. It's great work, but at this stage of the game there are 4 in the above list that have, in my humble opinion, surpassed it.
I consider DosBox and QEMU compliance to be pretty critical. 4 of the 6 proposals listed above take this into account. Yours does not. However, yours was also built before we had a solid understanding of what DosBox/QEMU compliance really meant.
