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Linus Torvalds returns to a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Blues — the low-profile quiet keyboard lifestyle wasn't for him
Firebrand Linux creator and kernel maintainer Linus Torvalds has returned to using a mechanical keyboard packing his preferred Cherry MX Blue (clicky, tactile) keyswitches. In a post about the latest Linux 6.15-rc6 on LKML.org (h/t The Register), the developer admitted he had been "using a quieter low-profile keyboard" for the last six months. However, the unnamed 'board has now been consigned to the spare parts bin in favor of an input peripheral boasting a "noisy clackety-clack" character. Perhaps Torvalds just isn't old enough yet for the keyboard warriors' equivalent of a quiet life with pipe and slippers.
Torvalds can't actually remember why he switched to a quieter, low profile keyboard. He isn't based in a shared office space, where a noisy mech keyboard would potentially disturb others, he muses. Nevertheless, he'd decided to give the switch half a year to stick, but has now judged the endeavor to be a failure.
Too many typos
The main reason for his return to the noisy side, other than some emotional preference, appears to be based upon a perceived increase in the amount of typos his prose was afflicted with. "It seems I need the audible (or perhaps tactile) feedback to avoid the typing mistakes that I just kept doing," pondered the Linux creator. Humorously, Torvalds says that he has for the last six months been able to blame the switch of keyboard for his typos. "Anyway, going forward, I will now conveniently blame autocorrect since I can't blame the keyboard," was the punch line.
The choice of keyboard is certainly an individual one, and beyond the basic mass market devices you will find in non-specialist stores there are now significant businesses devoted to custom, esoteric, and even artisan input devices and accessories.
Even if you have got to the stage where you have found your favorite keyswitch from the host of linear, tactile, clicky alternatives and based on different technologies, there remains the question of your favorite keyboard layout and size. That's not to mention all the kinds of extras that now get added to a humble keyboard, such as OLED displays, touchscreens, knobs, wheels, selectors, sliders, and so on.
(Image credit: Cherry)
I recently tried a silent HyperMagnetic switch keyboard from SteelSeries in my preferred TKL form factor. However, like Mr Torvalds, I have fallen back to a keyboard (this very affordable Cooler Master CK720) which I modified with Cherry MX Blues across its alphabetic section.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
I definitely prefer a mechanical keyboard, as does my wife. We use a wired, full-size DasKeyboard on a Mac, with the numbers on the side as well as the top. As one tech expert said on a music tech forum "a wireless keyboard and mouse is a solution to a problem that does not exist".
Although probably irrational, I really dislike the minimal fashion of some Apple users - Apple computer, bluetooth keyboard (without side numbers) and bluetooth mouse and nothing else on the desk. Computers are sophisticated work tools, not art - how can you work in such a prissy atmoshere?
I definitely prefer a mechanical keyboard, as does my wife. We use a wired, full-size DasKeyboard on a Mac, with the numbers on the side as well as the top. As one tech expert said on a music tech forum "a wireless keyboard and mouse is a solution to a problem that does not exist".
Although probably irrational, I really dislike the minimal fashion of some Apple users - Apple computer, bluetooth keyboard (without side numbers) and bluetooth mouse and nothing else on the desk. Computers are sophisticated work tools, not art - how can you work in such a prissy atmoshere?
The side numbers are called a numpad. And its not at all irrational to dislike keyboards without numpads. One example why are calculator apps... it takes much much longer to use a calculator app if you don't have a numpad.
