From: "Omar Polo" <op@omarpolo.com>
Subject: Re: kbd(8): man page improvement
To: Helg <helg-openbsd@gmx.de>
Cc: tech@openbsd.org
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2025 16:46:29 +0100

Hello,

Helg <helg-openbsd@gmx.de> wrote:
> While it's clear from this man page that it's possible to list all
> encoding with the -l flag, there is no mention of the hidden .metaesc
> option. This man page is also a dead end so add reference to wsconsctl,
> which can also be used to change the keyboard.encoding.
> 
> ok?

TIL about .metaesc, and I agree that kbd(8) is quite terse.

I'm not familiar at all with wscons & co, so I'm not sure if kbd(8) is
the right place.  I don't think it stands out badly.

I see that's all documented in wskbd(4), but a device driver manual page
is not the first place I'd start from when searching how to tweak the
keyboard layout.  (my mindset could be wrong, I'd take it)

> Index: kbd.8
> ===================================================================
> RCS file: /cvs/src/sbin/kbd/kbd.8,v
> diff -u -p -r1.13 kbd.8
> --- kbd.8	27 Jul 2015 17:28:39 -0000	1.13
> +++ kbd.8	27 Dec 2025 13:21:51 -0000
> @@ -64,8 +64,15 @@ List all available keyboard encodings.
>  Quiet mode.
>  No message is printed unless an error occurs.
>  .El
> +.Pp
> +The .metaesc option can be applied to any layout.

I think I'd quote ".metaesc" somehow.  I'm not sure what's the best
macro to use here, Cm (since it's a modifier) or maybe just a plain
Sq/Dq (single/double) quoting.

> +If set, keys pressed together with the ALT modifier are prefixed by an ESC
> +character.
> +(Standard behaviour is to add 128 to the ASCII value.)
>  .Sh FILES
>  .Bl -tag -width "/etc/kbdtypeXXX"
>  .It Pa /etc/kbdtype
>  Default national encoding.
>  .El
> +.Sh SEE ALSO
> +.Xr wsconsctl 8

maybe Xr wskbd(4) as well?


Cheers,
Omar Polo