5 ms·
What is the best way to reduce pain from using ctrl with pinky finger? (emacs pinky?)
by mycat 9y ago
What is the best way to reduce pain from using ctrl with pinky finger? (emacs pinky?)
- duncan_bayne 9y agoIn my experience - buy a good mechanical keyboard, and remap Control and Caps Lock.
- lottin 9y agoI don't understand how remapping Caps Lock to Control is supposed to improve things, considering that there's already a Control key in the vicinity of Caps Lock. For me the bigger problem is the right control key.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoTry it and you'll see. Control is usually two keys lower than Caps Lock, forcing you to bend your pinky in a weird way. As for Right Control - I don't think I ever pressed that key in my life...
- hellofunk 9y agoAt least on MacBook Pros, there is not a control key anywhere in the same pinky area as the caps lock key. A solid inch or two is quite a big deal.
- alyandon 9y agoI used to basically think it was insane that people would recommend changing the layout of my keyboard in order to accommodate the inefficient default key bindings of Emacs. However, even though I long ago stopped using Emacs, to this day I still swap Caps Lock with Ctrl because it's a much more natural position for the control key once you get used to it.
- duncan_bayne 9y agoThe difference between "in the vicinity of" and "on the same row as the home keys" proved immense for me. YMMV I guess, depending on your typing habits.
- krylon 9y agoI used to think "emacs pinky" was a joke, until I got my first programming job and I suddenly used emacs eight hours a day. :-| Then I read somewhere that the Ctrl key used to be at the location now occupied by Caps Lock on PC keyboards. So now, on every computer I use regularly, I remap Caps Lock to be an additional Ctrl key. My pinky has thanked me for it ever since. ;-) Also, I cannot remember having used Caps Lock ever, except by accident.
- gumby 9y agoActually the machines Emacs was developed on had rubout where caps lock is today. Control and meta were next to the space bar (control on the inside) and they were also wide keys like shift is. Sun put control where caps lock goes; i don't know if they originated that or if it copied someone else's existing practice.
- krylon 9y agoHuh. Thanks for the info.
- rjeli 9y agoCaps lock as control still caused pinky strain for me. I use xah lee's Ctrl palming method and it is amazing. I recommend anyone try it for at least an hour to get used to it, you'll never switch back. Unfortunately it only works with physical keyboards. Still use caps lock on my laptop.
- rekado 9y agoUse a keyboard with thumb key clusters for Ctrl, Alt, and other modifiers. If you cannot use such a keyboard (e.g. on a laptop) I suggest remapping CapsLock to Ctrl or using `god-mode`.
- icen 9y agoevil-mode
- groks 9y agoUse your thumb.
- VLM 9y agoSpecifically your right thumb if you're not a touch typist.
- fovc 9y agoFor me, god-mode has been a life-changing discovery. It solves C- and M-. I use sticky keys for shift, but that's less of a home run https://github.com/chrisdone/god-mode https://github.com/chrisdone/god-mode
- agumonkey 9y agoI press left ctrl with my pinky curled, so I actually press with the upside of the finger (just above the nail). It puts my wrist at a very small angle and no effort on the pinky finger itself.
- swah 9y agoWhat really worked for me was switching to Sublime, and nowadays Vscode. :(
- Symbiote 9y agoPress control with the opposite hand (so C-A uses the right control), and swap caps lock and control.
- brudgers 9y agoFor me, it's been keyboards with ctl and alt on both sides. Thanks to Xah Lee [1]. This rules out Macbooks (and most laptops) and favors Thinkpads, though currently I have a Dell Precision laptop and it has ctl and alt on both sides but the ctl's are not symmetrically placed and it is a bit annoying and not as good as the Thinkpad it replaced but it is workable. On my desktop, I have a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000, which is an awesome keyboard and cheap and robust. The major compromise is that it is corded to USB, but for me it is worth it. That said, it takes practice to develop muscle memory to use both ctl keys and both alts and key bindings that require switching ctl keys to touch type feel strange. [1]: http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html
- willtim 9y agoGood points. I also swap Ctrl and Alt on both sides, using my thumbs for Ctrl. Using the opposite hand to press the modifier is analogous to how a touch typist uses the shift keys. For desktop use, I now use a Kinesis keyboard, again with symmetrical modifiers but all as thumb keys.
- harrygeez 9y agoI read from somewhere saying that Emacs was invented at a time where the control key reside at where the caps lock key resides now. One day, my pinky genuinely hurt from stabbing the control key of my work-issued keyboard. I remapped the control key to caps and never looked back.
- whoami_nr 9y agoI swapped ctrl with caps lock and it had helped me immensely. Would highly recommend that.
- pmoriarty 9y agoI just press the control key with the part of the palm of my hand that's right below my pinky finger. That way my pinky finger always stays on the home row, and never gets tired. I don't like to remap control, alt, escape, or caps-lock because I don't want to be hobbled when I use another computer that I don't control to type on. This method has worked well for me for decades.
- BeetleB 9y agoAlternate between the left and right Ctrl keys...
- yurikhan 9y agoBuild a keyboard that puts Ctrl and Alt under your thumbs, or have one built for you.
- _acme 9y agoOr, more easily, you could just buy one: https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage2/ https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage2/. I've used a Kinesis Advantage at home and at work for 10 years now.