An Ergonomic (Touch Type optimized)
Romanian keyboard layout for MacOS

Gabriel L. Somlo <somlo at cmu dot edu>, 2021-12-14

This layout is similar to the one already available on Linux via either:

	gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.input-sources \
		      show-all-sources true
	gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.input-sources \
		      sources "[('xkb', 'us'), ('xkb', 'ro+ergonomic')]"

or simply alternating between the following two:

	setxkbmap -layout 'ro(ergonomic)'

	setkxbmap -layout 'us'

Now available for MacOS:

• Download and unpack the tarball: RoErgoMacKeyboard.tgz
• Copy RoErgo.bundle to Library/Keyboard Layouts
• Navigate to System Preferences → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Romanian
• Add Romanian Ergonomic to your list of Input Sources

When the Romanian Ergonomic layout is active, your keyboard will act like a regular US keyboard, with the following exceptions:

• Q gets you 'Ă' (Alt-Q for the original 'Q')
• W gets you 'Ș' (Alt-W for the original 'W')
• Y gets you 'Ț' (Alt-Y for the original 'Y')
• K gets you 'Î' (Alt-K for the original 'K')
• Alt-A gets you 'Â'

Note that 'Ă' and 'Ș' are cleverly located right above 'A' and 'S', respectively; 'Ț' is right next to 'T', and 'Î' is right below 'I'. Conveniently, 'Q', 'W', 'Y', and 'K' also happen to be the least frequently used letters in the Romanian language, allowing for the most efficient touch typing of Romanian text!