[HN Gopher] Moving the Ctrl Key ___________________________________________________________________ Moving the Ctrl Key Author : susam Score : 32 points Date : 2022-12-25 10:50 UTC (12 hours ago) (HTM) web link (www.emacswiki.org) (TXT) w3m dump (www.emacswiki.org) | abudabi123 wrote: | Would love to know the name of the Lenovo genius who put the | light indicator on the CapsLk key I use for ctrl that I can't see | because my left hand blocks it when I want to see the capslock | status. Microsoft Zune grade design thinking. | BeetleB wrote: | I've had a lot of ergo issues from typing, and I'm always | disappointed that Emacs users focus on remapping the Caps Lock | key while ignoring the advice most ergonomists give: | | There are two Alt and Ctrl keys on the keyboard. _Use both, and | use both halves of the keyboard_ If you 're doing a combination | like Ctrl F, use the _right_ control key. If you 're doing | Ctrl-l, use the _left_ control key. | | In general, when using these modifier keys, make sure _both_ your | hands are being utilized. | | Also, there's simply no rule that says one must use the pinky for | the Ctrl key. Use some other finger. In fact, insisting on using | the pinky is a sign you are also insisting on using one hand to | enter the key combination. | convolvatron wrote: | or, if you're really that much a dedicated emacs user, get a | split keyboard with modifiers on the thumb. as you suggest, you | can also double-map modifiers, so that C-M-x is just two thumbs | and a finger. you can go really fast this way. | pwiecz wrote: | Unfortunately both Alts are not equivalent. The right one, the | AltGr is uaef in many languages to type letters with | diacritics. E.g. in Polish AltGr+Z is Z, while AltGr+X is Z. | Still using both Ctrls itself helps a lot, and one may have a | right Windows to remap as Meta. | msla wrote: | Another possible solution is to define a compose key (I use | SysRq) to type characters not on the keyboard, such that (for | example) the three-key sequence "SysRq . Z" is Z. | | Here's the XCompose file I use: | | https://github.com/kragen/xcompose | ledauphin wrote: | I moved Ctrl to my left thumb, on the inside of the keyboard, | about ten years ago. | | It's still possible to hurt your thumb from overuse, but it's a | far stronger finger than the pinky, and no stretching is | involved. | prash_ant wrote: | Are you saying you moved it to the traditional left-Alt key? | | That makes the key on the left of the spacebar as Ctrl and the | key on the right of the spacebar as Alt. This is much better, | in my opinion, than using the pinky on the Capslock. | ledauphin wrote: | yep! | Wistar wrote: | For me, the key I'd move is Caps Lock. I inadvertently hit that | dang thing dozens of times a day. | wrs wrote: | Tip for vi users on Mac: get Karabiner-Elements and use the | "complex modifier" that makes the Caps Lock key into ESC when you | just press it, but Control when you use it with another key. | patrec wrote: | Indeed. And you can do the same thing with AutoHotKey on | Windows and xcape or interception-tools on linux. Interception- | tools has the big advantage that it doesn't just work under X | (but also the console and wayland). | spapas82 wrote: | For windows i recommend uncap https://github.com/susam/uncap | ashton314 wrote: | This is the best piece of advice there is. | | I use Emacs with vim bindings. I also have a Moonlander and I | absolutely love it. I've got my QMK set up so that the key just | below my left thumb (I press space with my right hand, so left | is best for this--you might switch it depending on how you hit | the space bar) is ESC on tap and Control on hold. This is the | single-biggest improvement to ergonomics from a software side. | Spend the time to figure out how to get this done, and then get | used to it. Your hands will thank you until you breath your | last breath. | phoebefactorial wrote: | Back in college I saw that all of my professors were suffering | from varying degrees of RSI, and resolved not to succumb myself. | | My final changes were, in order of effectiveness: | | - Put Ctrl on Alt, next to the space bar. Use thumb to press. | This saves a huge amount of pinky and wrist contorting. | | - Put Alt on Win, next to the now Ctrl key. Also use thumb to | press. With both of these my pinkies have way less to do. | | - Put Backspace on CapsLock. Though this does use a pinky finger, | it is much easier to type than the normal backspace location | requiring a hand full stretch. | | - Use the Dvorak layout. Much less finger travel since more is on | the home row compared to Qwerty. | | - In Vim, use Ctrl+C instead of Escape to leave insert mode. | Though not exactly identical, Ctrl+C is almost the same as escape | and especially with the above changes is much easier to type than | hitting the actual escape key. | | I have been typing for 15 years since and I have zero hand pain. | throwaway0x7E6 wrote: | just type with your index fingers | | everything else is a meme | mandw wrote: | Yes, it's a good move for people using control a lot. I am using | evil mode in emacs so I have the escape in the same place. | I also use homerow mods which i find really great. | With the homerow mod, the homerow keyas 'asdf' and 'jkl;' are | mirrors of 'gui, alt, ctrl, shift' So the a key is | an a except of you hold it down and press another key, in that | case it is the gui key. It works really well in | emacs as well as on my tiling window manager where there is a lot | of use of the combinations. (I have no idea why my font appears | different) | psychphysic wrote: | I have foot pedal ctrl and alt keys. One set at home, one at the | office. | | Some guitar pedals wired as momentary switches wired to a teensy. | | It's been using it for so long I forget they are there. I haven't | even checked on the teensy since I can remember. | | I instinctive tape my feet even if I'm working away from my desk. | If I'm zoned in I can even stamp my foot as though the pedal has | become unresponsive... | | I don't use Emacs as much as I used to but that's why I built | them. | | The very first version I had predate the current setup and was a | button on the underside of my desk that plugged into my keyboard | with an audio jack and jury rigged internally to ctrl (didn't | have alt for some reason). Thats got to be like 25 years ago now. | | It was so inconvenient as pushing my knee up was hard work (I was | convinced this would stop me getting a DVT from long desk | hours... But only in my right leg I guess?) esp as I got a new | desk that had more clearance, if I moved the keyboard it might | unplug or pull the button off the desk. And finally once I got a | new keyboard the wire would trigger the button and I couldn't | think why so I ditched it. | | What a blast from the past! | QIYGT wrote: | Strongly recommend using a keyboard with modifiers under your | thumbs like Kinesis Advantage. | pzone wrote: | Ctrl2cap is always one of the first things I install on a new | machine! | nverno wrote: | CapsLock being so useless, but conveniently placed turns out to | be a feature. I used to bind it to ctrl, but now use it as the | root key for all my personal keymaps (remapping it to F2). | andreareina wrote: | I use the heel of my hand to hit ctrl. Unfortunately that only | really works with discrete, non low profile keyboards. I've | thought on and off about adopting an ergodox style keyboard that | puts the modifier keys in easy reach. | lou1306 wrote: | I bend my pinky onto the palm of my hand and hit the Ctrl (or | Shift) key with its 3rd knuckle. Sometimes I stop and think | about how deranged that is, but it seems to work! | tom_ wrote: | I do this too, and have done for years. Doesn't seem to cause | a problem! | | (I'd have to twist my wrist a bit to use caps lock as a | control key, so perhaps my hands are just an odd shape. But i | do like having symmetrical meta keys anyway, as i can perform | the same motions with both hands.) | lizknope wrote: | 4 years of college on Sun workstation keyboards and then another | 4 years in the late 90's at work and my hand and brain are | hardwired to expect control being where caps lock is on | traditional PC keyboards. | | In vi/vim I never hit the escape key, because the old terminals I | used in high school didn't have an escape key or arrow keys. ctrl | and left curly bracket is escape and h, j, k, l are to move the | cursor. | | The muscle memory is too strong to change after 30+ years so | change the keyboard mappings instead! | petepete wrote: | This is the main reason I use a HHKB. I'd support any other | keyboard makers who put the CTRL in the right place too. | ListenLinda wrote: | I _believe_ remapping ctrl breaks ctrl+shift+f in VS Code. Not | 100% sure. | bananadonkey wrote: | I think you are referring to this? From the wiki at | https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/wiki/Keybinding-Issues: | Are you customizing keyboard mappings via setxkbmap or | equivalents? symptoms: customizations done via | setxkbmap or equivalents have no effect in VS Code. | solution: use "keyboard.dispatch": "keyCode" in your settings | and restart VS Code. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-12-25 23:00 UTC)