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I use Emacs and have been wanting to try spacemacs or evil because I suspect that modal editing is more efficient. Moreover my fingers hurt a lot and Emacs defi

by mruts 7y ago

I use Emacs and have been wanting to try spacemacs or evil because I suspect that modal editing is more efficient. Moreover my fingers hurt a lot and Emacs definately isn’t helping. The only thing preventing me from switching to evil (I would never switch to vim because it honestly just seems strictly inferior) is that I use Dvorak on a Kinesis keyboard. I’m not sure how well vim keybindings work on Dvorak, but I suspect not very well (atleast the hjkl part). Does anyone have experience with Dvorak and vim/evil? Is it acceptable?

bloopernova 7y ago
I'm a big fan of the composing commands in Spacemacs. http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html for more about keeping your hands pain-free. Sorry, no experience with Dvorak and vim or spacemacs.
linsomniac 7y ago
I've heard a lot of speculation, from the vi camp, that Gosling and Stallman have RSI that emacs caused. Again, speculation. Google search for it, I can't find anything worth linking, all speculation. I do know people who have had wrist problems and found vi more comfortable. I know when I have to type control sequences I find it painful if I do too much. I'd say just try it and see if you find it more comfortable. Spend a couple weeks suffering through a bit less productivity and see where you are at. I did that a few years ago and am super happy with the results. In my case it was ditching some bad touch-typing habits and switching to a custom keyboard layout to optimize for my environment. As far as Dvorak, I've heard of people typing in Dvorak but doing command-mode in qwerty. That seems crazy to me, but would definitely work. I can't imaging switching layouts that frequently in my head, but I guess once you got used to it it'd be no big deal.
- dmortin 7y ago
  Using emacs doesn't mean you have to use the default keys. I don't, because I find the defaults bad. I use the arrow keys and other bindings changed to my taste and my hands don't hurt. Emacs is only a bunch of defaults which you should adapt to your needs.

by mruts 7y ago

bloopernova 7y ago

I'm a big fan of the composing commands in Spacemacs. http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html for more about keeping your hands pain-free. Sorry, no experience with Dvorak and vim or spacemacs.

linsomniac 7y ago

I've heard a lot of speculation, from the vi camp, that Gosling and Stallman have RSI that emacs caused. Again, speculation. Google search for it, I can't find anything worth linking, all speculation. I do know people who have had wrist problems and found vi more comfortable. I know when I have to type control sequences I find it painful if I do too much. I'd say just try it and see if you find it more comfortable. Spend a couple weeks suffering through a bit less productivity and see where you are at. I did that a few years ago and am super happy with the results. In my case it was ditching some bad touch-typing habits and switching to a custom keyboard layout to optimize for my environment. As far as Dvorak, I've heard of people typing in Dvorak but doing command-mode in qwerty. That seems crazy to me, but would definitely work. I can't imaging switching layouts that frequently in my head, but I guess once you got used to it it'd be no big deal.

dmortin 7y ago
Using emacs doesn't mean you have to use the default keys. I don't, because I find the defaults bad. I use the arrow keys and other bindings changed to my taste and my hands don't hurt. Emacs is only a bunch of defaults which you should adapt to your needs.