Ubuntu without “win key”

Posted on November 28 2007 by Andre Noel

This post is an adaptation of one post I made on my portuguese blog. It may contain some write errors (especially on manicurist part).

One day I was talking with my friend (and GSoC Guy) Lucas Veloso, and I solved a problem that bother many Linux users: the use of “win key”.

Foto da Nova Tecla

Outra foto da nova tecla

May we call “ubu key”? :)

Step-by-step for win key “removal” e ubu key “install”:

  • With a nail sandpaper, sand the top of the key until you see no image there (be careful to don’t damage the key).
  • Alternative: According Lucas, if you use a transparent nail polish on the key and remove it using acetone (after a while), the image can be erase easily.
  • After remove the image, pass nail polish on the key.
  • Print the image you want to put on the key on a normal sheet (i made it 0,6cm x 0,6cm).
  • Pass transparent nail polish on both sides of the sheet over the image. The sheet will become a little “plastic”.
  • Cut the image carefully, using a knife.
  • Paste the image on the key (you may paste with the nail polish) and pass more nail polish to fix it and protect.
  • The end.

Wow, I’m talking like a manicurist… :P

Below is a picture of Lucas’ keyboard, in a different version, as you can see:

Foto do teclado do Lucas

Another keyboard that I like is the one of Jose Vitor:

Jose Vitor's keyboard

His girlfriend made it for him, inspired by my portuguese post. :)

PS: Here goes the template made with inkscape to create the “ubu key”.

PS2: Yesterday I saw one “Ubuntu keyboard” for sale. It looks nice…

6 Responses to “Ubuntu without “win key””

  1. Petrosyan says:

    Too bad neither Gnome nor Ubuntu bind the “Win” key. Wouldn’t it make sense to bind it to the “Main Menu” by default?

  2. Jeremy says:

    I highly disagree with decorating the Windows key like this, because as Petrosyan pointed out, it doesn’t bind to anything useful by default.

    It is a very intuitively labelled key for Windows systems — i.e., the glyph on the key matches the glyph on the menu that it triggers. However, on Ubuntu, pressing the “Ubuntu key” doesn’t do anything at all. Not intuitive at all — I do not think the key deserves such an outstanding label. It should simply have a text label of “Meta” or “Super” or something like that.

  3. [...] Andre Noel » Blog Archive » Ubuntu without “win key” Replace your keyboard’s Windows key with your own design. Detailed directions on how to remove the Windows logo and apply your own (tags: linux howto hardware) Bookmark to: [...]

  4. Cyrus Jones says:

    The Super key (aka the “Win” key) is very useful for Compiz Fusion shortcuts.

  5. Andre Noel says:

    Jeremy,

    This method allows you to label the key the way you want. If I label it with ubuntu logo, I can also bind it to the main menu. I suggest the customization on the post. You do what (and if) you want to.

  6. Laura Perdue says:

    Very Clever, Thanks for the instructions-

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