Re: [Bug-apl] Another option for APL keyboard mapping

[David B. Lamkins]

> Doesn't this amount to a GNU/APL-specific implementation of the
> standard X Compose mechanism?
> 
> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-apl/2014-05/msg00004.html

Not exactly. akt's mapping is targeted rather than global to the login
session. More important (from my perspective) is that the mappings are
as an APLer would expect, in the sense that there's an actual modifier
key (as opposed to a prefix) to access the APL characters.

Depending upon what you're doing, the first difference could be seen as
either a strength or a weakness. If you need to type APL everywhere, the
compose map is an excellent choice. If you only need APL input for
selected command-line applications, akt gives you the benefit of a
familiar APL keyboard rather than needing to compose every APL
character.

To be clear, although akt's target audience is GNU APL users, it is not
specific to GNU APL. akt can be used with any command-line application
that accepts Unicode input on stdin. I just used akt|nano to make an
APL-aware text editor...