System76 Launch HEAVY: the FOSS keyboard + Launch and Launch LITE compared

Try OnlyOffice, the best open source office suite for Linux: https://bit.ly/3IQRWfY
Grab a brand new laptop or desktop running Linux:https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en#

👏 SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:
Get access to a weekly podcast, vote on the next topics I cover, and get your name in the credits:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5UAwBUum7CPN5buc-_N1Fw/join
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thelinuxexperiment

Or, you can donate whatever you want: https://paypal.me/thelinuxexp?locale.x=fr_FR

🏆 FOLLOW ME ELSEWHERE:
Twitter : http://twitter.com/thelinuxEXP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nick_thelinuxexp/
Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/web/@thelinuxEXP
Pixelfed: https://pixelfed.social/TLENick
I’m also on ODYSEE: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@TheLinuxExperiment:e
And on PEERTUBE: https://tilvids.com/c/thelinuxexperiment_channel/videos

This video is distributed under the Creative Commons Share Alike license.

#keyboard #linux #opensource

00:00 Intro
00:43 Sponsor: OnlyOffice, the most compatible Office Suite for Linux
01:46The Launch heavy
05:51 Accessories and modularity
07:27 Configuration Tool
10:24 Launch and launch Lite Keyboards
13:09 Worth it?
14:32 Sponsor: Get a device that runs Linux perfectly
15:32 Support the channel

It’s a full 10 key design, complete with numpad and media keys. It comes in a US qwerty layout by default, but you can basically do anything you want with that layout.

Dimensions: 39 centimeters, by 13.5 cm, and 2.8 cm in height. That’s 15.5 inches by 5.32 inches, and one inch in height. It weighs 1.3 kilograms, or 2.8 pounds.

Your keys underneath tab are indented to the right, and everything from the Enter key is also indented to the left, with the arrow keys touching the shift key. The function keys are just Fn keys, you don’t get any specific logos or pictograms on them for system functions. You also get 2 spacebar keys.

Anyway, this layout is just the base one: all keycaps are removeable, and you can completely remap the whole keyboard thanks to a configuration tool.

My review unit came with the Kailh Box Silent Pink switches, which I like. You can also get Kailh Box Jade, Royale, or Silent Brown switches.

The keyboard is wired through USB C, and it’s also a USB hub, with 2 additional USB C ports, they’re 3.2 gen 1, and 2 USB A ports, also 3.2 gen 1. The keyboard also has per key RGB, which you can adjust using the configuration utility.

Since it’s a modular keyboard, you also get a bunch of stuff in the box. First, you have 2 USB C cables: one USB A to USB C, and one USB C to USB C. You also get a keycap remover tool, and a lot of additional keycaps.

In the box, you also get 2 small magnetically attached bars of aluminium, with rubber feet, that you can just slot in at the back of the keyboard, to raise it by a 15 degrees handle.

This keyboard doesn’t reach its full potential unless you use the configuration tool. It’s available in the Pop Shop for Pop OS users, or you can download it off their website as an appimage.

It’s a super visual tool, with the full layout of your keyboard on display, and a list of actions you can map to each key. Click the key you want to change, then click the action it does.

You can configure the keyboard with 4 different layers, which all have their own set of actions per keys.
And, more importantly, you can also have RGB settings per layer, and per key.

And the best thing is: once this is saved, it’s saved to your keyboard: all your layers, layouts, key mappings and RGB settings, they’re all saved on the board itself.

Another important thing to mention, is the fully open design of that keyboard. The chassis design is open source, you can download the CAD files and mill or 3D print your own. The PCB design is also fully open, you can access it on github, and so is the firmware, and the configuration tool.

All other Launch keyboards, the “regular” and the “Lite”, have the same advantages: fully open design, access to the configurator tool, a choice of 4 different switch types, and additional keycaps in the box, with the keycap removing tool and the USB C cables.

Where they differ, of course, is in the number of keys. The Launch is a 10keyless design, so without the numpad, but apart from that, it has all the same great features, including the USB C and USB A ports. It doesn’t get the additional super key with icons on it though, and it’s raiser bar is a single piece, not 2 small ones.

As per the Lite, it’s an ultra small design, with the numbrs row and the function row merged into one. It also, of course, dpoesn’t have a numpad, but it has all the same accessories, additional keybcaps and cables, RGB, and access to the configuration tool, like its bigger siblings.

What it doesn’t have, though, is the USB hub: it’s just one USB C cable to plug it in, and that’s it.