Pretty much exactly that. I managed to get QMK running without too much pain (though I stumbled over some hurdles getting it working well with github integration). Some sense of accomplishment, but the siren song of VIA was too great.
After running VIAL, I never want to use anything else. All of the features of QMK with zero of the headaches of keeping QMK happy and coding out tedious matrices.
I like VIAL as well but I opened it the other day and noticed that there was no key-tester. Am I crazy or did that use to exist? I see a āLayoutā tab but I doesnāt seem to be a test page, just a way to set your layout for the configurator.
Iām on 0.7.1 fwiw.
Vial 0.7.1 gives me an error on Windows 11 and show an empty window but the web version works for me and it has a tab called Matrix tester
Edit: Nvm, the error only happened because I had already given the web vial access to the keyboard, works after closing the tab
Honestly Iāve been stuck on using kilmat sound dampener then PE foam and tape modā¦ā¦itās so much more of a fuller sound and just amplifies the sound of the switch and takes out the variables of the board itself. Which personally makes metal boards that much better. This is just my opinion tho.
How do you use kilmat? AFAIK its adhesive is much stronger than painterās tape so removal may damage the PCB. Do they come in removable version?
I donāt use it directly into the pub I use it on the bottom of the caseā¦thereās always a couple foam layers and tape between the pcb and kilmat. Sorry for the confusion.
Ah. Thanks for the clarification. I use poly-fil for that. Although it doesnāt amplify sound, it does round out hash sound and fills in hollowness somewhat.
TIL: VIA has the ability to map map most QMK functions with the ANY key mapping (under SPECIAL)
e.g., Iām currently using LT(1,KC_CAPS) on my CapsLock key so it can function like the Fn key when held down and the usual CapsLock when tapped.
See Layers | QMK Firmware and Keycodes Overview | QMK Firmware
EDIT: Added example.
Wear those gloves for loobing, folks!
good news. now we have an excuse to use stock switches!
The ping, oofā¦
I feel validated in my choice for stabs of minimal Krytox and favoring dielectric 
Keebs aside, the Guardian has some decent reporting on PFAS in general. The bigger problem is in the food supply, and specifically the use of sewage sludge for fertilization (high PFAS concentration, unfortunately, because good use otherwise), even for organics, and fluorination of plastic containers, which leads to PFAS on the container as a byproduct.
Iām sure not fluorinating them would make them way less viable for their prescribed uses in the first place. Itās a hard problem weāre deep into, the kind we can do some things to mitigate personally (Iām using more glass containers and baggie alternatives) but which is also systemic.
i have too many older boards ruined by dielectric. it does eventually get sticky and leaks under the stabilizer housings. We just need better stabilizers 
I hear you. I think itās okay with due caution.
Iāve just seen someone, like, lube switches by first putting a dollop on the back of their hand to use as a palleteā¦ Iāve seen some tech support pics showing Krytox messes, which werenāt even the subject of the question, that I wish I could unseeā¦
I remember a few years back when the FDA realized that sunscreen is absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin. Likeā¦ they never tested the ingredients for safety in the bloodstream. I meanā¦ skin is pretty absorbent. You would think people know this by now. 
I still donāt know what happened to the sunscreen thing. I have a feeling itās been kept quiet while companies change their formulas to avoid class action lawsuits. My family has switched to the old zinc formulas. Sucks because they are white and make you feel hotter (feels like you canāt sweat through them)
Yah we also mostly use zinc formulas now too, especially for the kids. On the plus side, demand for them has caused the zinc ones to get a lot better. I donāt even mind using them, and I hate oily sunscreen.
Just donāt mistake BDZ for Thinkbaby Mineral Based Formula.
My answer is avoid sunlight, which accords with my lifestyle preferences.
TIL that switches can sound too good.
Iāve been using my Emerald Cthulhu frankenswitch and the switch made out of its remainders in my board rotation.
Both sounds amazing, very very rich and creamy. All good except they started to feel too rich, forcing me to switch to a board with simpler sound profile like Gateron Pro Ultra Glory Red, MMD Vivian, Smoothie, or even Cherry MX Brown for a while.