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The question always comes up: what do you do about vi? I leave it alone. I see lots of people eager to come along and show off a vim config file to remap the

The question always comes up: what do you do about vi? I leave it alone. I see lots of people eager to come along and show off a vim config file to remap the key bindings. Given more than a moment of consideration, you'll start to realize some of the drawbacks. Besides, what's the point of remapping anyway? Save for HJKL[1], for which bindings did the physical placement of the keys play a role in the decision about which keys to use? I'll speculate that it's none (or close to it). So you're not really giving something up, except for muscle memory. If you're using Dvorak, you've (apparently) already decided that that isn't a petrifying side effect. 1. I've said it before, even the HJKL thing isn't so bad. On Dvorak J and K stay next to each other, but they move to the left hand (and down a row). H moves over a key and L moves up. One of the signatures of typing with Dvorak is the near-alternation of left hand/right hand. (The article even makes note of it.) That up and down end up on one hand and left and right on the other is pretty serendipitous, if you ask me.

davesmylie 15y ago
For me, luckily, I started using dvorak not that long after I started using vim. (I'd been using vim on and off for a while, but not seriously). This meant that all the muscle memory that comes with being a vim user was learnt using the dvorak key bindings. The downside is that I'm hopeless with vim on anybody elses computer.
k20e 15y ago
A good question that I was going to address, although I am a long time Emacs user so my experiences are different. A similar question on a much simpler key mapping task is what do you do about cut/copy/paste? I found that if I had learned the key bindings when I learned to touch type, they were easily translated to another keyboard. Once I disconnected where my fingers were going with what action I was trying to perform, it didn't matter if the keys were in "logical" spots on the keyboard layout-wise. That being said, vi style keybindings probably don't transfer very well from a comfortability or convenience standpoint. I know that navigation in elm and Gmail is always awkward for me on the Dvorak keyboard. The Dvorak keyboard can also totally confuse some FPS type games that rely on W, A, S, D for movement.
- carussell 15y ago
  > A similar question on a much simpler key mapping task is what do you do about cut/copy/paste? I take the same approach as above: nothing.

davesmylie 15y ago

For me, luckily, I started using dvorak not that long after I started using vim. (I'd been using vim on and off for a while, but not seriously). This meant that all the muscle memory that comes with being a vim user was learnt using the dvorak key bindings. The downside is that I'm hopeless with vim on anybody elses computer.

k20e 15y ago

A good question that I was going to address, although I am a long time Emacs user so my experiences are different. A similar question on a much simpler key mapping task is what do you do about cut/copy/paste? I found that if I had learned the key bindings when I learned to touch type, they were easily translated to another keyboard. Once I disconnected where my fingers were going with what action I was trying to perform, it didn't matter if the keys were in "logical" spots on the keyboard layout-wise. That being said, vi style keybindings probably don't transfer very well from a comfortability or convenience standpoint. I know that navigation in elm and Gmail is always awkward for me on the Dvorak keyboard. The Dvorak keyboard can also totally confuse some FPS type games that rely on W, A, S, D for movement.

carussell 15y ago
> A similar question on a much simpler key mapping task is what do you do about cut/copy/paste? I take the same approach as above: nothing.