GNU bug report logs - #14736
24.3; "Insert" key results in question mark mouse cursor and does not send a keyboard event

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From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Alan Third <alan <at> idiocy.org>
Cc: Kumaran Santhanam <kumaran <at> alumni.stanford.org>, 14736 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#14736: 24.3; "Insert" key results in question mark mouse cursor and does not send a keyboard event
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2021 08:02:14 +0200

Alan Third <alan <at> idiocy.org> writes:

> Kumaran Santhanam <kumaran <at> alumni.stanford.org> writes:
>
>> On Mac OS X, the "Insert" key on external keyboards is mapped to
>> "Help". Therefore, when the "Insert" key is pressed, the mouse cursor
>> turns into a question mark and the key is not passed to Emacs to
>> process. This is problematic because users may have keybindings from
>> Linux and Windows that make use of the "Insert" key.
>
> Confirmed as still present in Emacs 25.
>
> Is there some use for the "help" key and question-mark pointer?
>
> Interestingly, it looks like on recent Apple keyboards "insert" is
> replaced with fn instead of help.

I don't have an external keyboard for my Apple laptop, so I can't test
myself.  Is this issue still present in newer versions of Emacs/Macos?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

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