This seems very useful; a universal solution at the OS level makes it easier to firm the habit of using PTT rather than relying on each individual app to offer (and then need to configure) PTT.

On a related note, I started using Nvidia's RTX Voice a few weeks back; I've never found anything better to remove background noise (and the noise of my mechanical keyboard). That includes some very expensive hardware solutions. It's incredible.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/guides/nvidia-rtx-voice...

Linux? Why not jackd, jack-rack and a simple expander/simple compressor LADSPA plug-in?

http://www.penguinproducer.com/Blog/2012/01/ladspa-noise-rem...

I’ve had people use rtx voice on discord and spam me with noise. I think it needs some work but is a great idea.

I've run into this bug too. I think it's funny something made to reduce noise can make so much.

This is an awesome idea. I ended up doing it without this tool and just using pulseaudio-ctl.

1. figure out the keycode for key you want to use. for me this was Scroll_Lock, so it looked like:

  keycode 78 (keysym 0xff14, Scroll_Lock)

2. Add the following to the i3 config:

  xset -r 78 # no repeat for scroll-lock
  pulseaudio-ctl mute-input yes # mute at startup
  bindsym Scroll_Lock exec pulseaudio-ctl mute-input no
  bindsym --release Scroll_Lock exec pulseaudio-ctl mute-input yes

I'm using Sway, therefore Wayland, no `xset` here. I'm pretty sure I tested something like this first and it did not work, which I why I went to the hassle of creating this.

I’ve been noticing lately that people in video meetings basically use the mute button as a convoluted ptt button. I’m glad someone else saw this

I used to do big Skype calls in the finance company I worked at several years ago and it was de rigueur to stay on mute until you wanted to talk. Most people actually did it. I always wondered why they didn't just have push to talk as it's way more convenient and less error prone.

I discovered an interesting feature around muting one day as well. People used to conduct calls at their desk in the open office as there was nowhere else to go. It was awful, but worse was if I was in the same call as someone near me as I'd hear them both in my earpiece and across the room. One day it was my boss, sitting right next to me. I noticed that each caller had a mute icon next to them so I pressed his and, lo! It worked. I could no longer hear him in my earpiece. But neither could anyone else. Turns out you could remotely activate any other caller's mute button.

I mute by default because I don’t want to get comfortable and be surprised after preferences are lost after a reinstall or using a new computer.

As someone who changes sound cards a lot, I like the global solution..

In Zoom, it's just a matter if putting it on mute and holding down Space bar to temporarily unmute. Very handy.

We've actually just beta launched a tool to solve this exact problem. We found ourselves in a number of muted Zoom/Hangouts/GMeets for various teams/sub teams. So we built Squawk to solve this. PTT by default and end-to-end encrypted https://www.squawk.to

My Thinkpad has a microphone mute button with an indicator light and it works with Ubuntu. I find it very convenient to use.

Same. Works wonders.

But I had to configure the shortcut (Setup is i3 + pulseaudio + sxhkd):

    /*sxhkd/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc (lines 19-20)*/
    @XF86Audio{RaiseVolume,LowerVolume,Mute,MicMute}
      pulseaudio-ctl {up,down,mute,mute-input}

Push-to-Talk with libinput + Pulseaudio

Anybody doing it with Alsa

But... what is it?

Push-to-Talk, but works at Pulseaudio level, so it works on all apps at once. It has a single global "walkie-talkie button" that mutes and unmutes the microphone (I use the Windows key).

Very useful for remote work:

- you can type on mechanical keyboards during calls without annoying your co-workers

- if you move away from your computer for a while, the microphone will be muted, so you avoid background noise and embarrassing situations

- if you un-mute the microphone without touching the trigger key, it will remain un-muted. In case you want to have longer conversations. Touching the trigger key will mute it again

Maybe it is psychological but I really want to see current mute status visually to rely on it. Else I assume that I am not on mute. This is not really rational if the function works reliably ...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23168784

My Thinkpad also has microphone mute button with a LED, so I already have this.

It's pretty simple to add notifications, just change this script to invoke a wrapper script that uses "notify-send" then runs "pulseaudio-ctl":

    notify-send "Muted: $1"
    pulseaudio-ctl mute-input "$1"

https://gitlab.com/somini/inpulse-to-talk/-/blob/master/inpu...

Add notifications to the app?

I can mute my headset using a switch on the headset itself. So this project turns a key on your keyboard into such a switch?

You can meet just the microphone and not the headphones? If so, that's a cool feature to have.

I think it’s a pretty standard feature of the 5 or so headsets I’ve bought over the past 8-10 years. Price point: USD 25

This is correct. Every headset I’ve purchased has had this feature, but I’ve only purchased gaming headsets.

Edit: this is the headset https://www.astrogaming.com/en-us/products/headsets/a10-gen-...

Also, this is not an endorsement, I would actually not recommend this headset.

yeah my gaming headset has that but I can't see the headset so there is a tone for mute and one for unmute. I can't remember at all what is what so I don't bother