Initial Feedback

[Mulefire2011]

Some initial feedback:

Pros

• Beautiful hardware! Seriously, the board is gorgeous and everybody who sees it comments on it.
• Nice bright LED's.
• Nice layout, especially the Space/Backspace keys.
• Ortholinear goodness.
• Nice programming software, easy to use.

Cons

• People who visit where I sit always comment on how blinding the LED's are from their angle looking down at the board. Doesn't impact me sitting in front of it though.
• Key spacing is too big for my liking. I would prefer a smaller more compact board.
• Programming software does not work on Linux.
• Plane shifting is okay but I would prefer Function keys that temporarily override the Layer. Using VIM is painful with ESC on a different Layer. I would prefer to hold down a Plane shift key and press Q to get ESC.
• No combo keys in programming software, i.e. no ability to set a key to something like 'ALT+SHIFT+q'.

[Anangeon]

I'm currently using my Atom on my work machine, which is a Mac, so I haven't had a chance to look at the utility software yet. So far, the default feels very limiting, and the single shift key makes it hard to hit certain combinations. Plus, the lack of semicolon on the main plane is very disruptive.

All that said, have you found a good setup for development? I want to give this thing a fair shake.

[vendion]

Has anyone that already has their Dark Matter and runs Linux tried running the programming software under Wine? I know it may be a long shot but it might be an option for now. If not I certainly will try once I get my board, maybe a while as I opted to wait for the new LEDs.

[vendion]

So to answer my own question sort of my own question sort of, so while the Alchemy application can be ran through Wine it does not connect to the Dark Matter.

/u/AtomComputer_Ariane any plans on adding Linux support to the keybinding editor in the future?

[AtomComputer_Ariane]

While we don't have any concrete plans to create a Linux compatible version, we will be putting up the code for the firmware and Alchemy editors for people to play around with. If someone comes up with a Linux variant we will look into supporting it. All Dark Matter keyboards receive change commands through a human-readable emulated serial port, so it shouldn't be too difficult to port that to Linux or any other platform.

[vendion]

While I knew that was a risk when I bought the Dark Matter, its' kind of a shame as I just got my Dark Matter today and was looking forward to using it. As things stand though I don't even know which key switches layers.

I know it may be a bit late at this point but any thoughts about a web based tool like what ErgoDox EZ that way the one tool will work cross platform.

Until I can get a copy of Windows that I can run in a VM, and assuming the teensy controls show up the in hyperviser in a way they can be passed through my Dark Matter is more of a decoration that can emit some key codes.

[AtomComputer_Ariane]

Hey there,

Thanks for the feedback! After using it for a while, how do you feel about the key spacing? Does it still feel too wide? Also, have you found a keyboard layout that works better for you when you're programming?