Dennis,

> Which leads back to ability to read the keyboard "state" (modifier
> keys) from within you application -- without waiting for a key-down/
> -up event.

Yep.  Which doesn't seem possible under Linux. Alas (for me).

> If you read further down in that densely packed text,

I'm afraid I lost sync somewhere along the way there. :-\

> DETAIL is described as "key-sym" for key-down/-up events...

Yep, I missed that part.   And your explanation to it makes sense to me
though.  Thanks.

> Really? Consider how many boot sequences have a few seconds in
> which to catch a key press to stop the default boot sequence.

And those are not user-friendly either.   Most all of them have timings too
short to actually read what you need to do and find the key you need to use
(F2 ? F21 ?  Ctrl-C ?  Other ?).  Hence multiple reboots needed. :-(   And
when the time is long enough it starts to irritate rather quickly (at least
with me).

/Especially/ when you are actually waiting for a program to start, and not,
as I can do when booting my 'puter , jab the powerbutton, do something else,
and only return when it has fully booted.

> Not "user-friendly" is one of the Easter eggs on AmigaOS 1.3
> (maybe still in 2.x, but removed in 3.x).  [snip]

Yep, that one is nasty.  Than again, its designed to be exactly that.

I've got a game here which uses the WASD keys for moving around, together
with the mouse for the direction.  It also has a certain action, which you
can often ony do when moving forward, bound to the "Z" key.    A nice
finger-twister, especially under "it has to be done /now/" pressure. :-|

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

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