I pre-ordered a Framework this morning, and I would pay a ridiculous amount for a replacement keyboard with a Trackpoint/Accupoint style pointing device!! (I know it’s been said a few dozen times already - sorry if this is redundant!)
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" [nrp] [Apr 2] “The nub is probably not possible mechanically on this one (it’s amazing how tightly everything needs to be packed to make a thin, high performance laptop work), but tbd on trackpad buttons!”
(Sorry for my clumsy quoting. Haven’t figured out how to quote an individual post yet.)
First of all, Framework, a hearty standing ovation. Modularity, repair-ability, user-upgrade-ability, screen aspect ratio, number of ports, types of ports. Wow. Everything you’ve done has been on my “Why don’t they…?” wish list for years. And then you throw in something that I didn’t even dare wish for–user-customizable ports. Outstanding conception and superb execution. Standing O!
These preferences, as well as my preference for a good, if not great, keyboard with trackpoint and tp buttons, have kept me on my trusty Lenovo W520 looonnnggg past “current” status. In fact, it is its modularity that has kept it performing perfectly fine, if not blindingly fast, for more than a decade.
With regard to the quote above…
There seem to be a number of people here who would gladly add a few millimeters to your laptop’s thickness in exchange for a keyboard with trackpoint, buttons and good key travel. I am another such person.
One review of your laptop made a point of describing the two distinct layers, bottom and top, on which all components reside. Again, kudos for this superb design and execution.
Now, I’m not a design engineer. But the thought occurred to me. Given that all electronics are on distinct layers that attach to the top and bottom halves, couldn’t you offer the option of a slightly taller base for those who wanted it, and an optional keyboard that would fit only in the taller base? The keyboard would have trackpoint, buttons, and perhaps even longer key travel, though this latter point isn’t critical.
It would be the Keyboard Fussbudget option. I would leap on it.
Thank you, again, for responding so adeptly to customers’ wants.
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Just to lend my support to the idea of an ortholinear keyboard layout suggested in the post by Ulli_Kehrle similar to https://github.com/saoto28/pineapple60
This would just be icing on the cake, ticking all my boxes for the most amazing laptop.
Debian linux, colemak, ortholinear keyboard, just take my money!
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Hi, I would have pre-ordered one laptop today to go to Austria (German Keyboard) but - unfortunately the keyboard is only US … This is such a sad Showstopper 
why not provide the keys and you add them yourself? Or when would a german Keyboard be available?
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A german keyboard (along with shipping to Germany) should be available before the end of the year.
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Same as @rossic and @Walt_Leipold
As I hate half-height up and down keys very much, I think this is a great solution. Especially when I am using vim or playing some STG games like Touhou Project which requires fine tuning of position using the arrow keys.
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@Ted_Lavarias Me too, please replace it with the framework gear logo which would be regardless of OSs.
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O formato mais próximo do ABNT2 sem modificar tanto o teclado seria esse esboço que fiz usando o teclado do notebook da Framework com a organização das teclas no padrão ABNT2.
Nesse caso eu fiz com a tecla “Enter” no padrão ANSI, no ABNT2 geralmente a tecla “Enter” tem o padrão ISO, mas isso não é uma regra, se bem que é bem raro encontrar uma ABNT2 com a tecla “Enter” no formato ANSI
@Ray_Kiddy - Take a look at this announcement up top again. They’re launching two special edition keyboards with no language imprint. Is that what you’re looking for?
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After using the keyboard for a couple of days, I have to say I’m really pleased with it. I find I type both faster and more accurately than I do on either my previous Thinkpad or on my external keyboard. The key spacing and tactile feel hits my sweet spot.
I had two gripes with it, the first, the position of the ctrl and fn keys, after spending most of the last two decades working on machines with them in the opposite space, was proving difficult to get used to, so I was really pleased to find that could be swapped in bios.
Now I’m wondering if there is a workaround to the second gripe, which is the lack of dedicated home and end buttons, which I use a lot. Any way to get one handed home and end functionality without losing the left and right arrows?
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Maybe map Right Alt + Arrow?
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@jeshikat Thanks for the idea. I use alt+left arrow to go back and ctrl+left arrow to go to the start of a word when I’m typing. But maybe I can figure out another key mapping that would work and not interfere with any other shortcuts. Thanks for the idea.
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US vs. UK Keyboards
I found this very interesting and didn’t see this small detail discussed elsewhere, so I thought I’d share. I wondered why there wasn’t any framing in between the \ key and the Enter key on the US keyboard, then I understood why when I happened to spot a UK keyboard and compared the two.
US: 
vs. UK: 
I’m assuming that the framing in this spot has been intentionally left out to make swapping keyboards with different layouts easier and so that only one keyboard frame has to be manufactured. I thought this was very thoughtful & efficient on the part of the Framework team. Awesome!
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Will there ever be a keyboard option that’s more of a linear switch experience? (not even sure if that’s possible on a laptop keyboard) I’m not a big fan of tactile switches.
Mechanical switches are probably too thick to fit on this model. You’d end up with a deck too tall and probably hit the screen.
You’d have to wait till a new chassis or model comes out most likely 
If you don’t use CapsLock, it’s a prime candidate for a custom modifier key which can be implemented using AutoHotkey/xbindkeys/xmodmap. Personally I remap Home and End to CapsLock+r and CapsLock+f, respectively, for easy left-hand access. I’ve remapped other navigation keys, arrow keys, function keys, etc. in a similar way.
If you’re on Windows here’s a quick snippet of AutoHotkey to get you started:
*Capslock::return
~Capslock & Tab::return
~Capslock & r::SendInput {blind}{home}
~Capslock & f::SendInput {blind}{end}
Also looking forward to the possibility of implementing this at the firmware level once the EC firmware is open-sourced by the Framework team.
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This is one of the best pieces of software Microsoft has put out - FancyZones is an excellent replacement/alternative to Snap, and I use the color picker tool built in more than I’d like to admit.
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I rather like kmonad which works on windows, macos and linux and gives you mort of the features that you would expect from a programable keyboard
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Hey everyone! Sorry if this has been asked already but is there any way to change the fn key bindings on the keyboard? (I would like to change the f12 key to launch anything other than groove)
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