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For Emacs users, common wisdom is to swap control and caps. I urge you to try swapping left control with left alt instead. Thus you can use your left thumb to h

For Emacs users, common wisdom is to swap control and caps. I urge you to try swapping left control with left alt instead. Thus you can use your left thumb to hit control and right thumb to hit Meta (alt). Map Esc to capslock if you use Evil-mode. Linux commands for x windows: setxkbmap -option 'caps:escape' setxkbmap -option 'ctrl:swap_lalt_lctl' This works well for me and would probably work even better if my keyboard had big alt keys. Edit, as another user said, everyone should probably be using sticky keys. On linux I run xkbset sticky -twokey -latchlock on login with Xorg. Sorry, not sure how to do this under Wayland.

willtim 8y ago
Excellent advice. I also swap control and alt on both sides. This means I can reduce the amount of chording needed and use alternate hands together.
- platz 8y ago
  I never want to reach for control again. I map alt to CapsLock, and control to alt
- clircle 8y ago
  Interesting. How do you hit the Meta key if you swap on both sides? With a pinky?
  - willtim 8y ago
    Normally, I use a Kinesis, so it would be thumbs for both. But on my laptop, yes I would use pinkies for both shift and alt.
Pimpus 8y ago
Great advice. Hitting modifier keys with the thumb is how Emacs is meant to be used, in my opinion. It's the strongest finger, after all. > For Emacs users, common wisdom is to swap control and caps. This is terrible advice and it causes so much unnecessary pain. - The pinkie is the weakest finger. - Stretching sideways is a terrible movement. Try it several times and compare it to moving a finger up, or curling the thumb. Stretching sideways should be reserved for infrequent actions -- hitting a modifier key is much too frequent for Emacs users. - You should have modifier keys on BOTH sides of the keyboard. Using Emacs with just one Ctrl key is just... awkward. There are so many common keybindings (like C-x C-c) that are difficult with this scheme. With Ctrl to the left and right of the keyboard, however, I can just curl my right thumb a bit and then press x and c. If you have RSI, maybe one of your hands is overworked (i.e. you only use Shift with one hand). Big opportunity for improvement there. Unfortunately not all modern keyboards have modifier keys on both sides of the keyboard, so you definitely have to watch out for this when e.g. buying a laptop. With the key system you suggest, Emacs bindings are even better even than Vi modal editing, in my opinion. Pressing/lifting a thumb is much easier than changing editing modes.
- clircle 8y ago
  Definitely agree that if you are using thumbs to execute all Emacs commands, it's just as comfortable as modal editing. Since I started using Evil a year or so ago I have become very used to it and I'm now using a strange combination of vim keybindings for text manipulation and Emacs bindings for everything else (saving files, switching buffers, etc.)
thomastjeffery 8y ago
Honestly, I never use Caps, so I just setxkbmap -option 'ctrl:nocaps' As far as sticky keys go, I'm going to pass. That's a modal change that I don't want interrupting me. As far as Wayland goes, keyboard layouts are handled by the compositor (window manager), and have to be supported and configured by each compositor. That's probably the main design flaw that has been keeping me away from Wayland.

willtim 8y ago

Excellent advice. I also swap control and alt on both sides. This means I can reduce the amount of chording needed and use alternate hands together.

platz 8y ago
I never want to reach for control again. I map alt to CapsLock, and control to alt
clircle 8y ago
Interesting. How do you hit the Meta key if you swap on both sides? With a pinky?
- willtim 8y ago
  Normally, I use a Kinesis, so it would be thumbs for both. But on my laptop, yes I would use pinkies for both shift and alt.

Pimpus 8y ago

Great advice. Hitting modifier keys with the thumb is how Emacs is meant to be used, in my opinion. It's the strongest finger, after all. > For Emacs users, common wisdom is to swap control and caps. This is terrible advice and it causes so much unnecessary pain. - The pinkie is the weakest finger. - Stretching sideways is a terrible movement. Try it several times and compare it to moving a finger up, or curling the thumb. Stretching sideways should be reserved for infrequent actions -- hitting a modifier key is much too frequent for Emacs users. - You should have modifier keys on BOTH sides of the keyboard. Using Emacs with just one Ctrl key is just... awkward. There are so many common keybindings (like C-x C-c) that are difficult with this scheme. With Ctrl to the left and right of the keyboard, however, I can just curl my right thumb a bit and then press x and c. If you have RSI, maybe one of your hands is overworked (i.e. you only use Shift with one hand). Big opportunity for improvement there. Unfortunately not all modern keyboards have modifier keys on both sides of the keyboard, so you definitely have to watch out for this when e.g. buying a laptop. With the key system you suggest, Emacs bindings are even better even than Vi modal editing, in my opinion. Pressing/lifting a thumb is much easier than changing editing modes.

clircle 8y ago
Definitely agree that if you are using thumbs to execute all Emacs commands, it's just as comfortable as modal editing. Since I started using Evil a year or so ago I have become very used to it and I'm now using a strange combination of vim keybindings for text manipulation and Emacs bindings for everything else (saving files, switching buffers, etc.)

thomastjeffery 8y ago

Honestly, I never use Caps, so I just setxkbmap -option 'ctrl:nocaps' As far as sticky keys go, I'm going to pass. That's a modal change that I don't want interrupting me. As far as Wayland goes, keyboard layouts are handled by the compositor (window manager), and have to be supported and configured by each compositor. That's probably the main design flaw that has been keeping me away from Wayland.