5 ms·

I though emacs/vi users don't want to take their fingers off the home row?

elago 8y ago
True for me. Using spacemacs which uses vi style keybindings, so most shortcuts are key sequences instead of chords. I think its faster for me to press two or three characters on the keyboard my fingers are already on before I move them into place on another keyboard. Adding a second keyboard and using the Russian layout is a cool method to use a 2nd keyboard that doesn't just duplicate the keys of the first, and likely has more fun applications than just adding more shortcuts to your text editor.
- ryanianian 8y ago
  There's also "key-chord-mode" which lets you bind any function to any two keys pressed in unison (or right after each-other) [1]. IIRC it's built-in to all modern versions. [1] https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/KeyChord https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/KeyChord I'm trying to build out more ergonomic bindings since emacs-pinky is starting to haunt me at times. I have key-chords setup for very common things like jump to beginning/end of line ('jk' and 'kl').
spapas82 8y ago
That's definitely true for vi; but only after you properly remap your ESC key to something else (usually jj or caps lock). Emacs is a differenet story... By default it uses a lot of alt and ctrl key combinations and also makes heavy usage of the arrow and home/end keys. Of course, there is a vi mode for emacs (evil; this is what Spacemacs uses) to take advantage of vi keys in emacs. But I believe that most emacs users just stick to the alt/ctrl shortcuts.
- RBerenguel 8y ago
  I mix and match vi (evil) and normal emacs commands, choosing what's best for the case and for me. Some commands are so ingrained (C-a and C-e for navigating for instance) and convenient as they are that I just remapped them to be available in all modes
- marcosdumay 8y ago
  Ctrl and alt only take the little fingers. I'm actually used to not typing with them, but instead reserve them for shift, ctrl and alt. All the other fingers stay at their place. After seeing the article I've thought about doing something similar, but dismissed it exactly because it would take my hands out of the keyboard.
- Symbiote 8y ago
  The arrows are duplicates of control P, N, B, F and the home and end keys control A and E. Control is more common than Alt, and with the usual swap with caps lock (as on old keyboards) it is still on the home row for the left hand.

True for me. Using spacemacs which uses vi style keybindings, so most shortcuts are key sequences instead of chords. I think its faster for me to press two or three characters on the keyboard my fingers are already on before I move them into place on another keyboard. Adding a second keyboard and using the Russian layout is a cool method to use a 2nd keyboard that doesn't just duplicate the keys of the first, and likely has more fun applications than just adding more shortcuts to your text editor.

ryanianian 8y ago
There's also "key-chord-mode" which lets you bind any function to any two keys pressed in unison (or right after each-other) [1]. IIRC it's built-in to all modern versions. [1] https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/KeyChord https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/KeyChord I'm trying to build out more ergonomic bindings since emacs-pinky is starting to haunt me at times. I have key-chords setup for very common things like jump to beginning/end of line ('jk' and 'kl').

spapas82 8y ago

That's definitely true for vi; but only after you properly remap your ESC key to something else (usually jj or caps lock). Emacs is a differenet story... By default it uses a lot of alt and ctrl key combinations and also makes heavy usage of the arrow and home/end keys. Of course, there is a vi mode for emacs (evil; this is what Spacemacs uses) to take advantage of vi keys in emacs. But I believe that most emacs users just stick to the alt/ctrl shortcuts.

RBerenguel 8y ago
I mix and match vi (evil) and normal emacs commands, choosing what's best for the case and for me. Some commands are so ingrained (C-a and C-e for navigating for instance) and convenient as they are that I just remapped them to be available in all modes
marcosdumay 8y ago
Ctrl and alt only take the little fingers. I'm actually used to not typing with them, but instead reserve them for shift, ctrl and alt. All the other fingers stay at their place. After seeing the article I've thought about doing something similar, but dismissed it exactly because it would take my hands out of the keyboard.
Symbiote 8y ago
The arrows are duplicates of control P, N, B, F and the home and end keys control A and E. Control is more common than Alt, and with the usual swap with caps lock (as on old keyboards) it is still on the home row for the left hand.