[slim]

As a Tunisian (north africa) I write mixed texts containing both arabic and latin scripts. I have an azerty/arabic keyboard, arabic letters are on the same keys as latin letters so I constantly need to switch layout when I'm typing. A ~200ish keys keyboard would be Ideal for me. And i suppose it's the same for all non-latin keyboards

[Vivtek]

Even Latin, if you use enough languages with enough diacriticals. Or want to code in APL. Or use Greek letters when typing math.

[ardy42]

> Even Latin, if you use enough languages with enough diacriticals. Or want to code in APL. Or use Greek letters when typing math.

I've always wanted something like the space cadet keyboard with a couple of extra modifier keys vs. what's typically available today for typing unusual characters (and the keycaps for making that easy).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Space-ca...

[myself248]

That's pretty straightforward to DIY with the TMK firmware. Or even just with Autohotkey and your existing board; pick a key you don't use much (Caps Lock, right-Win, etc) and make it one of your meta keys.

Print your own keycap labels with Avery sheets for starters, and once you've got the layout nailed down, you can send off to have custom caps made by whatever process you like.

[JdeBP]

Only 3 extra modifiers, really (a PC keyboard having 4, discounting left and right variants) and fewer actual keys (a mere 100) than an old U.S. 101-key Model M keyboard, let alone a modern U.S. 104-key Windows keyboard.

[dsr_]

Have you considered having two keyboards plugged in at the same time, and switching between them according to your needs?

[JdeBP]

You haven't tried this yourself.

I have.

Keyboard maps are on the host, not on the keyboard. Engravings on the keytops are meaningless and are not what determine how a key is understood. A (for example) U.K. 105-key keyboard and a French 105-key keyboard just look like two 105-key keyboards with all the same keys to the host.

Several common operating systems just combine all keyboard input from multiple plugged-in keyboards into one giant "union" keyboard and apply a single keyboard map to it.

I've been working on Linux/BSD software that allows individual different keyboard maps per keyboard, for my user-space virtual terminal system. It's achievable, but I've not encountered anyone else who has seriously attempted to make such a thing work, in the general case where arbitrary USB keyboards can be plugged in and out at runtime.

[dsr_]

You're right, I haven't tried this. But my (unmentioned) approach was going to include using at least one fully programmable keyboard -- QMK or similar -- to send precisely the keycodes wanted.

[JdeBP]

It doesn't work that way. The USB HID usages (and PS/2 scancodes) are the same. There is one usage for the key at (say) D01, and the keyboard doesn't know or control whether it is "Q" or "A" or something else entirely. You cannot switch layouts on the keyboard, because the maps are on the host. Multiple keyboards with D01 engraved with different symbols will not actually vary anything, and all send the same thing across the wire.

[slim]

yes, I've done that. I did not find a reliable way to make the layout stick to a particular keyboard. but the main problem is it takes too much space

[driverdan]

Why not use two separate keyboards?