tl;dr
I am assuming optional split spacebar comes if you decide to add optional staggered keys, right?
When one has become used to custom keybs such as dactyls or whatever that gives you 3+ thumb keys, then it becomes virtually impossible to use a regular laptop keyboard anymore…
Seems unlikely we’ll be getting an ortholinear option for the 13 inch though, right? It seemed like all of the options around input modules were exclusive to the 16 inch. That would be incredible, though.
We’ve been chatting with Jack Humbert, and he’s actually been prototyping an ortholinear keyboard module for the Framework Laptop 16.
For the Framework Laptop 13 with an ortholinear option, perhaps, there is a possibility by another user-driven project in the future. You can check the project below.
There are likely some photos of it in press articles about the event today.
Anyone seen these pop up anywhere yet? I’ve only found this other comment so far:
We were hoping there would be press photos of it, but I haven’t seen any show up yet. We’ll share photos on our social channels later.
That was two days ago though … Didn’t see anything on Twitter or Insta yet.
Having a laptop with an ortho keyboard and QMK would be a dream come true.
Doesn’t have to do with ortholinear keyboards, but with different keyboards in general: What I would love for the Framework 16 is a tenkeyless keyboard over the full width of the laptop.
I don’t need accent panels, LED strips or a Numpad, but I do hate the half-size split Up/Down arrows and the fact that Home/End/PgUp/PgDown doesn’t have a native key. Just give me a keyboard that’s wider than the default one and has real arrows and the typical Ins/Del/Home/End/PgUp/PgDown a desktop keyboard has.
Can’t we just have a third party make it using frame.work specs? So long as it fits and connects the way the current keyboard(s) connect, a kickstarter or limited preorder of a custom keyboard could be made by a third party, right?
Ortholinear + nipple + 1000ms polling pretty please.
Sure, if you find someone that wants to design and manufacture a niche keyboard for a niche laptop, you could do that. All the ports are documented and I believe they’re simple USB2 with a couple additional pins.
I would love third-party add-ons for the Framework laptop but I don’t have a high confidence that that’ll happen. AFAIK it hasn’t happened with the Expansion cards either - Framework announced that 3rd-parties could sell their cards in the Framework marketplace, but I don’t see any except for the official ones, and I also can’t find anyone manufacturing custom modules on the internet either - except for some people making their own custom modules with a 3D printer.
And making such an expansion module would be way easier than making a custom keyboard, I assume. And the expansion modules could at least in theory be used on other devices as an awkwardly-shaped dongle. The keyboard would basically be useless for other laptops.
Hello. 
I am also very interested in the possibility of integrating an ergonomic keyboard (at least only orthogonal, at best split with staggered columns).
I can’t buy a standard laptop because all models are equipped with a standard non-ergonomic keyboard. If the Framework Laptop 16 offers an ergonomic keyboard model with blank keys, I would certainly be interested in this computer.
Just created an account to mention that such an option would mean an immediate buy for me.
+1 for ortholinear. Currently switching from my custom built ferris-sweep to any other keyboard is very confusing and I hit the wrong keys every other word - primarily because I have no second ortholinear one. Would love to have this option with the framework laptop and as soon as it happens I am buying one.
Seconded. Ortholinear keyboard would be instant buy for me. Also the only way I would by a framework.
+1 for the ortholinear.
tho i understand that Framework has some more important things to do and idk how cost efficient it would be for Framework as you need to cnc another input cover (talking about the Framework 13) for just making the ortho (one long term solution would be to try and make a input cover without the grid between keys but i think you compromise on flex or something else, but yeah… in any case for the FW 13 u need to remake the grid in the input cover, and u can imagine costs but probably with a group buy is possible)
For the FW 16 it should be possible as u just make a compatible keyboard and that’s it, but it’s still in its early days so no priority for now.
+1 from me as well. It’s the only way I can actually touch type. Heck, I would even buy the laptop if I new there was a third-party keyboard option that I had to buy separately.
An ortholinear grid of 1x1 keys arranged in 5 rows and as many columns as will fit across the Framework 13 would be a must-buy for me. I’d be okay with replacing the entire top cover myself to get such a keyboard to work.
If the Framework 16 gets Jack Humbert’s ortholinear swappable keyboard first, I’d probably buy the 16 over the 13.
Do you know if he has officially said he will be doing one? I messaged him about it a while back but haven’t heard anything back from him.
I haven’t confirmed it myself, but the ycombinator thread posted earlier/above seems pretty credible. I’ll message him too to confirm–maybe he’ll answer one of us.
Tried on Twitter and Mastodon one or two months ago, but no much luck.
Fingers crossed for related anoncements.
Hopefully, he’s too busy doing the work of actually designing the Framework 16 ortholinear keyboard, haha.
I’ll try anyway, even if the chances of him responding are super-low.
Sebastiaan @ OLKB confirmed to me via email that Jack is working on an ortholinear keyboard for the Framework 16. I don’t consider this new news, just confirmation of what we already have been told.
It does mean though that I will be changing my plan to purchase a Framework 13 to a Framework 16 instead. Yeah, it won’t be portable; it will be used as a desktop replacement. Eventually, I’d want a Framework 13 with ortholinear keyboard option so that I could travel with it.