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Since I switched to Ubuntu 12.04 I'd only missed one thing.

A program which could launch typewriter sounds while typing. For instance, in Windows I used this: http://www.colorpilot.com/soundpilot.html for a long time.

I learned then that this writing program: http://gottcode.org/focuswriter/ had the sounds but only for the program itself.

However, sometimes I'm writing an email, writing on the web or doing more complex writing tasks in LibreOffice - all places where these long missed typing sounds don't apply.

Does any of you know of any plans in the community of the sound bit - typing sounds - as an independent program or applet to be fetched in the Ubuntu Software Center soon?

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I just changed the instructions to make them a bit easier to follow. Try them again! –  josinalvo Dec 29 '12 at 14:32
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4 Answers

There are some implementations to play a sound for every keypress, one of them is "keypress" on Github.com, made by Github user "chrelad". It's a fork of linux-typewriter.

Instructions on how to set it up:


  2. Install the package python-xlib.

    sudo apt-get install python-xlib
  3. Download the application:

    wget -O keypress.tar.gz https://github.com/chrelad/keypress/tarball/master
    tar xvfz keypress.tar.gz && cd chrelad*
  4. Start it by executing

  5. Optional: You can change the sound by opening the file keypress.py with an editor and look out for the line that says

            os.system("aplay sounds/key01.wav")

Now change key01.wav to what you want it to sound like.

To restart it after the reboot:

  1. Open a terminal.

  2. Type: cd chrelad* && ./keypress.py

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Have you ever used IncrediMail? You probably like its old but lovely typewriter sound effects when writing. But this sound effects can’t appear in Gmail or other text editing tools. Tiper, to eliminate this regret for you.

Copyright: appnee.com/tiper/#ixzz2GVXpQR7s
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

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BTW, you need wine to run it! –  gnrsu Dec 29 '12 at 13:05
So...what is Tiper, exactly? –  Eliah Kagan Dec 29 '12 at 16:53
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Focus Writer is one. It's GREAT! It even keeps daily goals for you and tells you how far along you are on those goals.

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Try this one: https://github.com/aitjcize/Qwertickle
This is exactly what you want.

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While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. –  Seth Nov 20 '13 at 4:26
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