Map some other function to the insert key

[Jim Cheetham]

On Mon, 2005-04-18 at 19:38 -0400, Eric Dunbar wrote:
> On 4/18/05, Scott James Remnant <scott at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> > Insert should toggle between Insert and Overwrite modes.
> > Caps Lock should LOCK CAPS ON or turn the lock off.
> 
> Insert means "to put or introduce into the body of something", does it
> not? Insert != overwrite, unless my thesaurus is failing me ;-).

Insert mode and overwrite mode are conceptually related as opposites,
and it isn't necessarily unreasonable for the insert key to toggle this.
Because few people seem to use a modal editor (excepting vi users, who
already have multiple methods to change to insert mode) there is no
other paradigm for the key (i.e. readonly vs. insert)

*But* having said that, I agree that overwrite mode itself is a terrible
thing, and in order to stop people stumbling onto it, the insert key
should be left "dead" by default - we already have ScrollLock and
Pause/Break doing nothing.

Leave CapsLock alone - it's well understood and the side-effects (except
for password entry) are easy to understand :-)
-- 
-jim cheetham = jim at egressive dot com
www.egressive.com, www.effusiongroup.com