Feature request: use Left Super and Right Super as overlay key at the same time

[Kangie]

Distribution (run cat /etc/os-release):

NAME="Pop!_OS"
VERSION="21.04"
ID=pop
ID_LIKE="ubuntu debian"
PRETTY_NAME="Pop!_OS 21.04"
VERSION_ID="21.04"
HOME_URL="https://pop.system76.com"
SUPPORT_URL="https://support.system76.com"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://github.com/pop-os/pop/issues"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://system76.com/privacy"
VERSION_CODENAME=hirsute
UBUNTU_CODENAME=hirsute
LOGO=distributor-logo-pop-os

Related Application and/or Package Version (run apt policy $PACKAGE NAME):

pop-desktop:
Installed: 1.6.0~1625267683~21.04~ac0465f
pop-launcher:
Installed: 1.0.0~1631574486~21.04~5cea115

Issue/Bug Description:

Docs indicate that from 21.04 it should just be the super key, as does the welcome wizard - this machine was imaged this afternoon and no launcher shortcuts have been modified

Steps to reproduce (if you know):

Install PoP OS 21.04, run apt update && apt upgrade

Reboot (?)

Press super key to bring up the launcher. No result. Press Super + / - launcher appears

Expected behavior:

Launcher behaves as documented

[jacobgkau]

Just to be clear, Super + / is supposed to still work even if Super is also working.

Have you tried changing the setting at Desktop -> General under Super Key Action to something else and then back to Launcher?

[Kangie]

@jacobgkau I had not tried that, but can confirm that it is not working.

This may be something slightly different than I first thought - further testing has revealed that the super key on my laptop keyboard (Super L?) works as desired, but not at all on my USB keyboard.

I can confirm that using settings -> keyboard -> view keyboard layout that the Super key on my USB keyboard shows a keypress on the Super R key - is it the case that Super R does not trigger the Super action?

Edit: The laptop keyboard super key does not register at all on view keyboard layout, consistently bringing up the launcher instead.

[jacobgkau]

Ah. After setting one of my keys to Right Super in the keyboard configurator, I'm able to recreate this. Only Left Super opens the Launcher.

I'm not sure this is something that can be changed within this repository. The overlay key is bound within COSMIC, but it looks like it's using an overlay key handler from upstream GNOME, not specifying Left Super itself.

I can confirm this by changing the Overview Shortcut setting in GNOME Tweaks -> Keyboard & Mouse from Left Super to Right Super; after I do that, Right Super opens the Launcher and Left Super doesn't.

I can find a couple of places this has been discussed, like this Ubuntu bug report. I do want to clarify, you labeled this issue as a "regression," but this would have never worked the way you're describing (with both Super keys), correct? Even pre-COSMIC versions should have only opened the GNOME Activities menu with Left Super, so this may be a bug (or a desired improvement), but it's not a regression.

There is an upstream Mutter issue that appears to be a feature request for setting multiple keys as the overlay key at the same time. I'm not sure if this is something that could be accomplished via an extension, or if it would require changes to Mutter (I would think it might not be possible via GNOME Shell extension if it would require changes to Mutter.)

Attempting to set the org.gnome.mutter overlay-key gsetting to multiple keys doesn't seem to do anything.

On a positive note, anyone using a keyboard with configurable firmware (such as Launch, a keyboard on an Open Firmware laptop, or QMK models) can simply set both Super keys to Left Super to achieve this behavior, although that's obviously not an option for many keyboards.

[Kangie]

Agreed - it's not a regression as it never worked that way, however in my defence the docs don't specify 'left super', and I'd just built and updated this pop install when I noticed the issue, didn't think that the keyboard would be the problem!