FreeBSD and gaming keyboards (like k95)

[Christian Baer]

Hi everyone!

I've had my eyes on gaming keyboards for quite a while now. There are two main 
reasons for this:

1. I like the backlit keys. It fits the fact that I spend a lot of my 
computing time in a half-lit room in the evening - especially when doing photo 
editing. And I am quite happy to admit, that they look cool too. :-)

2. The macro capabilities would come in really handy.

I am not a hard-core gamer, but I do like a little gaming now an then. So the 
macros would come handy then too. But I would also like to use the macros in 
my everyday life, like when writing letters and emails (which I spend a lot of 
my workday doing). I have seen other people using keyboards with macros to 
fill in text blocks and that can save a tone of time!

The problem is that the software for these keyboards is typically only for 
Windows and somehow I doubt that Wine will really shine in this respect. I 
would definately not mind booting Windows to program my keyboard, I would 
really like it to work well under FreeBSD too. Meaning:

- The light is usable.
- At least one set of macros works under FreeBSD.

A friend of mine has the Corsair K95 which I really like because of its build, 
feel and looks. He has the red switched (as a gamer) and I would want the blue 
ones as someone who has used a Model M for years. But I like the macro block 
on the left.

Does anyone have this particular Keyboard (or any other gaming keyboard that 
fits the profile) running under FreeBSD and would like to share his thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Chris