Euromak is not an independent keyboard layout – it is rather a mod, an additional component to already existing, ergonomic keyboard layout Colemak-DH.
Many European Latin alphabet languages have keyboard layouts that can be inconvenient and challenging to use. The current layout for languages like Lithuanian, Czech, and Slovak require multiple keystrokes and hand movements that can cause discomfort during extended typing sessions. This is because certain letters are positioned on the number rows, making it necessary to use the AltGr key for accessing numbers, which can only be done by folding the thumb inward or by switching the keyboard layout. Similarly, the keyboard layouts for Romanian, Norwegian, Swedish, and Hungarian place important keys for programmers on the symbol keys, requiring the use of the AltGr key and causing awkward hand movements that deviate from the home row.
In May 2022, a solution was devised to address the discomfort in typing for European Latin alphabet languages on a keyboard. The number 4 key was designated as the most easily accessible key in the number row, which was left mostly unchanged except for number 4 which can be accessed with the left Shift key. The programming symbols were kept in place, with the backtick and tilde keys being moved to the right Shift key, and the original key now features regional quotation marks inspired by the Romanian keyboard layout.
This solution was written in AutoHotkey, overcoming limitations in MSKLC such as the inability to discard incorrect dead key combinations, and runs without the need for administrator privileges, besides the recommended installation of the base Colemak-DH layout.
The Caps Lock key now switches between other languages in the mod, allowing original funcitonality to be activated either through a modifier key such as Alt, Ctrl, or Super (Win) and Caps Lock key by pressing such combination, or by pressing the F1 key once. The F2 key is used as a newline in programs that require Shift + Enter, and Shift + Enter now produces a dollar sign, which is useful for programmers working with languages such as PowerShell, Perl, or PHP.
The dead key combinations are organized based on bigrams, ensuring the most likely keys to be pressed next are placed on the home row for ease of typing.
For example t is most likely to be typed after š (like the word "pirštas"), therefore 4 + t outputs š. No need to switch to another key afterwards – the finger is already on it.
If you would like to try out the layout without committing to a full installation, you can download the "qwerty_euromak_your language code.exe"
(e.g. qwerty_euromak_lt.exe) from the Releases section TODO: Right now, this option is not available. Download required files from files > Windows and compile AutoHotkey files with U64 Unicode 64-bin.bin base file. This version of the layout is designed to work on US, UK or other English-based keyboard variants,
with the Colemak-DH base keys remapped to the corresponding QWERTY keys.
For the best experience, it is recommended to install the base Colemak-DH layout and remove any other keyboard layouts. To do this, simply run the "cm_dh_us_amd64.msi" file from the regular releases of Euromak, which is available in an archive. After installation, restart your computer and copy the Euromak script to your desired location. Finally, create a task in Task Scheduler and switch to the Colemak-DH base layout to use Euromak.
Open Start menu
Search "Task Scheduler"
Switch to Actions pane
Click Create Task...
Name it something as "Euromak at log on"
Go to Triggers, click New...
Begin the task: At log on
Specific user: [your user], click OK
Go to Actions, click New...
Program/script: find the executable of Euromak
Press OK, and OK once again for the final time
Done!
- Fedora LXDE Spin
- Linux Mint Xfce (and KDE from the repository)
- Void Linux Cinnamon, MATE
- FreeBSD Xfce, MATE
- OpenIndiana MATE (works as-is, no
toggle-cyr.shsupport) - openSUSE Leap LXDE (LXDE from Tumbleweed repository)
- TUXEDO OS
BSD variants need this change in the file:
sed -i '' -e 's|#!/bin/bash|#!/usr/local/bin/bash|' -e 's|/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/emk|/usr/local/share/X11/xkb/symbols/emk|' euromak_endorsed.shProbably could work on GNOME, but requires some additional tweaking, I don't use GNOME. Doesn't work with KDE upstream for some reason.
Other distros untested, but should work fine with a bit of tweaking, as long as it's X11.
Go to files > Linux and download euromak_endorsed.sh, then run it. That should be it.
Right now there are not many layouts to offer. Currently Lithuanian and Romanian layouts are available, as well as a version, which combines both and makes them switchable within the mod (with the Caps Lock key). If you would like to contribute your language to the project, open a pull request.
If there is enough demand, I may consider creating additional layouts for popular languages. To request a new layout, simply open an issue.
Also, if there will be enough languages to be combined and used along, I might make a GUI program which makes the process less painful. Right now, the only way to do so is by editing scripts in this repository, it shouldn't be too hard either way for the meanwhile.