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As a fellow Vim user, I don't use the escape key anymore. It's awkward to hit and I rebind it to "jj" (or more recently "jk"). It's unergonomic to reach for the

As a fellow Vim user, I don't use the escape key anymore. It's awkward to hit and I rebind it to "jj" (or more recently "jk"). It's unergonomic to reach for the escape key where it customarily is. If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense. That said, I don't like rotating my hand or remove my fingers from the home row. It's really a non-issue because you can rebind keys so easily, it's not even funny. Everyone seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill.

43812912 10y ago
Vim user here. I use the ESC key; I can hit it in a fluent motion while lifting the hand completely off the home row (much like a pianist). It gives an opportunity to relax the hand. For the same reason I'm not a fan of hjkl and often use the arrow keys.
- grardb 10y ago
  This. I never "learned" how to type, and while I've tried, I simple can't get rid of almost 20 years of muscle memory typing like a buffoon. It's much easier for me to use ESC and the arrow keys than people who keep their hands on the home row.
the_watcher 10y ago
> If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense. You can remap your key bindings to exactly this layout using Karabiner-Elements.
- wrs 10y ago
  In fact, Karabiner can map caps lock to both control (if you use it with another key) and escape (if you just press it). Which is fantastic.
  - teilo 10y ago
    No, not in Sierra, because Karabiner classic does not work in Sierra. Karabiner-Elements, which is Sierra-only, can only do basic key remapping. None of the fancy stuff.
    - steeef 10y ago
      Yet. There's a pull request in the works that would do just that: https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements/pull/247 https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements/pull/247 You could build from the latest update and get that functionality.
- teilo 10y ago
  You don't need Karabiner-Elements for this. Esc remapping is supported in 10.12.1 natively.
gurkendoktor 10y ago
> If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense. macOS Sierra allows you to rebind Caps to the Esc key, which seems like a good compromise to me. As a non-vim user, I just wish I could bind Caps to other keys as well :(
- anfogoat 10y ago
  Mapping caps to ESC is not really an option when you have it mapped to something else already, and I'd imagine a lot of devs do.
- bartvk 10y ago
  Have a look at Karabiner-Elements. The author recently open sourced it and kept up his brisk development pace. Every year he updates I'm lockstep with macOS releases and every year, I donate. Amazing project.
kenoph 10y ago
I tried "jk" but I hated seeing the cursor pause every time I used "j" to go down.
- sliverstorm 10y ago
  That doesn't seem right- I use "jj" to escape insert mode and nothing unusual happens when I use hjkl to navigate in normal mode. The only "pause" is when I type the letter "j" in insert mode.
  - Spartan-S63 10y ago
    Yeah, I agree. That doesn't seem right at all. I use "inoremap jk <ESC>" to remap my escape key.
sliverstorm 10y ago
If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense Which, interestingly, is where ESC was on the computer that vim was first written for.
- Spartan-S63 10y ago
  That's what I was getting at when I mentioned it :) Bill Joy's keyboard had escape where caps lock is today.

43812912 10y ago

Vim user here. I use the ESC key; I can hit it in a fluent motion while lifting the hand completely off the home row (much like a pianist). It gives an opportunity to relax the hand. For the same reason I'm not a fan of hjkl and often use the arrow keys.

grardb 10y ago
This. I never "learned" how to type, and while I've tried, I simple can't get rid of almost 20 years of muscle memory typing like a buffoon. It's much easier for me to use ESC and the arrow keys than people who keep their hands on the home row.

the_watcher 10y ago

> If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense. You can remap your key bindings to exactly this layout using Karabiner-Elements.

wrs 10y ago
In fact, Karabiner can map caps lock to both control (if you use it with another key) and escape (if you just press it). Which is fantastic.
- teilo 10y ago
  No, not in Sierra, because Karabiner classic does not work in Sierra. Karabiner-Elements, which is Sierra-only, can only do basic key remapping. None of the fancy stuff.
  - steeef 10y ago
    Yet. There's a pull request in the works that would do just that: https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements/pull/247 https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements/pull/247 You could build from the latest update and get that functionality.
teilo 10y ago
You don't need Karabiner-Elements for this. Esc remapping is supported in 10.12.1 natively.

gurkendoktor 10y ago

> If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense. macOS Sierra allows you to rebind Caps to the Esc key, which seems like a good compromise to me. As a non-vim user, I just wish I could bind Caps to other keys as well :(

anfogoat 10y ago
Mapping caps to ESC is not really an option when you have it mapped to something else already, and I'd imagine a lot of devs do.
bartvk 10y ago
Have a look at Karabiner-Elements. The author recently open sourced it and kept up his brisk development pace. Every year he updates I'm lockstep with macOS releases and every year, I donate. Amazing project.

kenoph 10y ago

I tried "jk" but I hated seeing the cursor pause every time I used "j" to go down.

sliverstorm 10y ago
That doesn't seem right- I use "jj" to escape insert mode and nothing unusual happens when I use hjkl to navigate in normal mode. The only "pause" is when I type the letter "j" in insert mode.
- Spartan-S63 10y ago
  Yeah, I agree. That doesn't seem right at all. I use "inoremap jk <ESC>" to remap my escape key.

sliverstorm 10y ago

If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense Which, interestingly, is where ESC was on the computer that vim was first written for.

Spartan-S63 10y ago
That's what I was getting at when I mentioned it :) Bill Joy's keyboard had escape where caps lock is today.