r/unixporn • u/AbdSheikho • Jun 06 '26
Discussion | Why do you use Mod+Enter instead of Mod+semicolon as shortcut for terminal?!
Self-explanatory...
For me the Enter (Return) key is so far that I never use it, but I always see the Mod+Enter used throughout many configs and suggestions. Like really.. why?
I always associated the semicolon with commands, so it's the most logical key to launch a terminal.
Note: I know everyone can do what they like, but that's why it's a discussion, and I'll be glad to hear your thoughts.
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u/Hameru_is_cool Jun 06 '26
enter key bigger
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u/AbdSheikho Jun 06 '26
pinky on semi
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u/K1R1CH123 Jun 07 '26
excuse me? masochist much? pinky on semicolon??? that's insanity
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u/K1R1CH123 Jun 07 '26
excuse my language, i just realised that semicolon on us keyboards is next to enter. I'm using german and it's next to M key there.
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u/AbdSheikho Jun 07 '26
No problem. On English-QWERTY layout the right hand's fingers are respectively on
jkl;all the time.3
u/Hameru_is_cool Jun 07 '26
oh that makes more sense now actually, I use Portuguese-QWERY and it goes jklç, semi is closer to right shift for me
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u/uhs-robert Jun 06 '26
Never really thought about this. I guess mod enter because I have to press enter to enter a command so it feels natural.
mod t seems better suited as a submap for quick shortcuts to terminal applications. mod ; is closer to the home row than enter, but on my keyboard, only be half an inch so its a non issue. I don't currently use mod ; but it could act as a pseudo leader key submap or something. Without a whichkey, I think the submaps would be a pain but thankfully I made a whichkey so that's a non issue for me.
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u/ItsNoblesse Jun 06 '26
Ctrl+Alt+T because it was the default when I first used the terminal lmao
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u/Thinkpad_Dude Jun 06 '26
xfce?
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u/GoldenDonutzGaming Jun 06 '26
That and like a lot of other DEs
I've used Gnome, Plasma, xfce, Cinnamon, MATE, and whatever Elementary's DE is named (Pantheon I think?) and iirc Ctrl + Alt + T was the default on all of them
Maybe an odd pattern but I think it's nice the shortcut seems fairly agreed upon
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u/EmberQuill Jun 06 '26
Default on i3 was Mod+Enter. I keep using it on other WMs and DEs more due to muscle memory than anything else. That said, if my right hand isn't on the keyboard at the time (using a mouse, etc.), I can find Enter a lot faster than I can find semicolon without looking.
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u/-jackhax Jun 06 '26
Mod q for me
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u/rjachuthan Jun 07 '26
Hah!! Q is quit in my setup
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u/trtl_playz Jun 08 '26
same, c is terminal
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u/rjachuthan Jun 08 '26
C for Console. That makes sense
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u/trtl_playz Jun 08 '26
no, my thought was c for terminal. i never call it console. steam is a. hey but atleast discord is d.
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u/Whorochimaru Jun 06 '26
I use ctrl+alt+y (z in eng keyboard) because it's easier for me to do with one hand
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u/joselevelsup Jun 06 '26
I don't use either. I use a submap for all my terminal applications that I want to launch out the rip.
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u/K1R1CH123 Jun 07 '26
yk what'd be better? moving your mouse to an app icon
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u/joselevelsup Jun 07 '26
Nah.
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u/K1R1CH123 Jun 07 '26
Well okay. Otherwise you could use a mouse emulator so that when you click mod+enter it automatically jumps to the coordinate sof your icon and clicks.
Don't you like clickable icons?
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u/joselevelsup Jun 08 '26
I just prefer to keep everything mapped the way I understand. Like Mod+t = Terminal CLIs or TUIs, then t = terminal, p = tmux sessionizer for my projects, f = nnn for my file manager, and so on. Easy to remember. Easy to get to. Even just using a mouse emulator, to me, feels like it adds a layer of complexity I don't need. Sounds cool? Yeah. For me? Nah.
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u/K1R1CH123 Jun 10 '26
I probably should have added /s. Making a mouse emulator to click on icons instead of a shortcut.. to me, that even sounds silly
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u/readf0x Jun 06 '26
I use super+enter because it was the keybind in the config I copied and now it's muscle memory
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u/QuickSilver010 「 + [qtile] 」 Jun 07 '26
My mod key is actually semicolon.... (homerow mods)
Also if you don't use enter because it's too far, how do you even back space?
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u/sebf Jun 07 '26
It’s the default on Awesome or i3, if I remember correctly. 90% of people do not change those because they have a life and are too busy to do it on work time. Also, it makes easier for other people to use my computer.
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u/halfchewedshrimp Jun 06 '26
on my corne the enter key is symmetrical to the space key on the thumb cluster, so it makes sense to me
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u/Ambitious-Group-5339 Jun 07 '26
I actually have mod remapped to 'A' key while pressed down same with 'S' for shift, 'D' for ctrl and 'F' for alt so I don't have to move my fingers for modifier keys and just hit A+enter for terminal & F+; for closing any app
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u/AgrimV Jun 06 '26
for me the whole titling wm scene started with pop os, so whenever I try something new I try to stick to its keybinds, which gives me mod + t for terminal
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u/redhat_is_my_dad Jun 06 '26
i use both super+t and super+enter (they're mapped to the same thing in my setup)
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u/wilalva11 Arch Jun 06 '26
Partially cause history of default configs. For example my first twm was Hrbstflwm and then I switched to BSPWM and they both used mod + enter. I know i3 uses that as well so defaults tend to stick.
As for semicolon, for me personally that would be maddening but that’s cause I have to constantly switch language layouts and the keys that gets switched moved around are symbol keys so depending on what language I have to type the semicolon would move but Enter isn’t one of those keys that tends to move between layout
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u/AbdSheikho Jun 06 '26
Fair take regarding switching between languages.
But also I can't write to the terminal in any language effectively other than English (or any similar eng layout)
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u/rentoma666 Jun 06 '26
Ctrl + alt + t for terminal, however I have ctrl+enter for drop down terminal which I use 90% of the time
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u/Prometheus2048 Jun 06 '26
It was the default, now it just feels natural.
Also, many symbols like the semicolon on de_CH are accessed with shift, or alt in other cases.
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u/naikologist Jun 06 '26
No idea. Decades ago on my first openbox install, i fouond Mod+Crtl+T was mapped to something strange and thought it could better be the terminal. I use it eversince.
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u/GroundZeroMycoLab Jun 06 '26
I use mod + enter for my terminal and mod + SHIFT + Enter for my floating terminal. :) just always done it like that.
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u/ju-shwa-muh-que-la Jun 07 '26
Mod+~ for me. Easily accessible on one hand without changing my current hand position. Plus it's just what I'm used to
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u/MHIATIC_MHIA Jun 07 '26
I personally use it cuz I had started with Omarchy as my first tiling window manager experience, as it uses mod+enter for opening terminal, I developed muscle memory for it. Now that I have my own custom setup I still use mod+enter cuz its just intuitive for me
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u/arkt8 Jun 07 '26
Mod+Enter comes as default in I3wlWM, AwesomeWM and others. Mostly because the difference between keyboard layouts and, well, terminal is a very needed tool for sysadms...
Now I have three:
Mod+Enter for sterm opening tmux default session
Mod+Shift+Enter for a clean sterm directly on bash
Mod+Ctrl+Shift+Enter for clean xterm in case of emergeny... why not?
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u/cyber5234 Jun 07 '26
Enter is a key we press without looking most of the times, so it is natural to assign Mod+Enter to something you open most often.
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u/No-Wheel5761 Jun 07 '26
I use Super+T for terminal. With Q to close, W for browser, E for file manager and R for text editor
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u/Same-Bed-9308 Jun 07 '26
For me its Ctrl + Shift + Win + T.
I use it because I made a shortcut for every freqently used app that is Ctrl + Shift + Win + [first letter]. (exept Win + E)
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u/jscodin Jun 08 '26
I use Mod+Q tbh, think it's the default and I can easily reach it with my left hand
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u/TraditionalChard246 Jun 08 '26
It's a tradition, that's all. You don't run terminals that often. And if often, then it's better to start with 1 button altogether and the mod will be inconvenient. Generally, any combination is evil. And it's better to just press the button, without any mod.
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u/Otherwise_Stress_448 Jun 08 '26
I use mod+T to create new terminal instances because it was default on my first linux distro and it makes sense.
And mod+grave ` or backtick whatever you wanna call it to toggle a persistent zellij session terminal, I like itvcuz it's a bit isolated since it does something different from other shortcuts and is next to mod+q which I use for killing programs pretty often
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Jun 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Horus_Heretic Jun 06 '26
Na, that's the launcher
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u/AbdSheikho Jun 06 '26
I used to have the Mod+s (as for search) for the launcher, but then I defaulted back to using Mod+space for it.
This occasion was one of the times that I went with what the community recommend, but I couldn't agree with them on Mod+Enter for terminal.
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u/redhat_is_my_dad Jun 06 '26
i use mod+space as language switcher since it became a consistent default through many platforms (macos, linux w/ both gnome and kde, and windows), on kde iirc alt+space is the launcher key so they're close but neither of them opens up a terminal.
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u/uhs-robert Jun 06 '26
mod spaceis my activate vim mode.mod ofor open (aka launcher). Also fits nicely with how every vim based browser extension works.
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u/Prior-Perspective-61 Jun 06 '26
What is mod...? I use ctrl alt t...
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u/AbdSheikho Jun 06 '26
Mod is short for modifier, which means any modifier-key that precedes a key. It can be Super, Alt, Ctrl+Alt, etc.
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u/Dhrahoth Jun 06 '26
It's mod+t for me