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Speaking of this specialness... having the main system shortcut modifier – Cmd – physically located under both your thumbs is priceless. In contrast, the Ctrl

Speaking of this specialness... having the main system shortcut modifier – Cmd – physically located under both your thumbs is priceless. In contrast, the Ctrl keys are usually located such that they're best accessed with your pinkies. Who thought that making people use their weakest fingers for the most common shortcuts is a good idea? Could you remap your keys to have Ctrl keys under the thumbs in Windows / Linux? Yes, but then: 1) It will become hard to use Ctrl-based text navigation shortcuts (such as Ctrl+left to navigate one word left) with one hand, and 2) Ctrl+Tab will now use the same physical keys as Alt+Tab used to, and your brain will never heal from this (at least mine refuses to).

deleted 4y ago
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grimgrin 4y ago
re: “priceless”, i mean i agree and set alt to ctrl for the same vibe on linux and windows but otoh ppl have strong opinions for the exact same reasons (hand/finger dexterity) by assigning ctrl to caps lock less weird-pinky/hand-rotation does feel like a win, though
still_grokking 4y ago
> 1) It will become hard to use Ctrl-based text navigation shortcuts (such as Ctrl+left to navigate one word left) with one hand Why would it be any different than on macOS? > 2) Ctrl+Tab will now use the same physical keys as Alt+Tab used to, and your brain will never heal from this (at least mine refuses to). So why not switch this also? Where's the problem? At least on Linux there are no issues. It's mostly clicking one checkbox, and changing "Alt-Tab" to "Ctrl-Tab".
- nikitaga 4y ago
  > Why would it be any different than on macOS? Because in MacOS those arrow-based text shortcuts are Alt-based, not Ctrl-based, and right Alt is already located right next to the arrow keys where it's most convenient for those particular shortcuts. It does not need any remapping since in MacOS the Alt key is not used for most other system shortcuts, unlike the Ctrl key on Windows/Linux. > At least on Linux there are no issues. It's mostly clicking one checkbox, and changing "Alt-Tab" to "Ctrl-Tab". Been there tried that, on Ubuntu, last attempt a couple years ago. Does not work, many apps have Ctrl+tab hard coded to switch between their tabs, so if you make Ctrl+tab the system shortcut for switching apps, you can't switch tabs in those hardcoding apps anymore.
  - still_grokking 4y ago
    > Because in MacOS those arrow-based text shortcuts are Alt-based, not Ctrl-based, and right Alt is already located right next to the arrow keys where it's most convenient for those particular shortcuts. Where's the problem to tick a checkbox and change that? > Been there tried that, on Ubuntu, last attempt a couple years ago. Does not work, many apps have Ctrl+tab hard coded to switch between their tabs, so if you make Ctrl+tab the system shortcut for switching apps, you can't switch tabs in those hardcoding apps anymore. Once again, that are GTK problems. Just avoid GTK (v3 and later) and Electron and there are no usability issues. Simple as that. But I'm repeating myself.
    - nikitaga 4y ago
      > Where's the problem to tick a checkbox and change that? What checkbox do you mean? (I understood the one about ctrl+tab, but not this one) I'll give KDE a shot next time, but I think some apps I use heavily are actually GTK apps (such as Firefox), we'll see how it goes.
      - still_grokking 4y ago
        > What checkbox do you mean? (I understood the one about ctrl+tab, but not this one) Maybe I'm confused, but I have an right Ctrl and a right Alt. Both keys are left to the arrow keys. I thought you wanted to switch around also those two keys. That would be ticking a checkbox in the keyboard config afik. > I'll give KDE a shot next time, but I think some apps I use heavily are actually GTK apps (such as Firefox), we'll see how it goes. I also use Firefox. It uses GTK. But this makes no difference as Firefox does its own thing anyway. It uses GTK only under the hood. The two most annoying things with Firefox are solvable: You can use custom.css to switch around the OK / Cancel buttons in dialogs (thankfully they don't use "real" GTK dialogs but some XUL, otherwise you would need to patch the GTK libs) and one can have proper file-dialogs by now through the desktop-portal interface. So Firefox remains its own thing but at least the GTK parts don't creep up anymore. Oh, and global menu does not work in FF (even it works for "normal" GTK apps). Also they still didn't manage to make keyboard shortcuts configurable. But that are FF issues on any desktop or OS…
opan 4y ago
It's also worth considering changing your keyboard itself. I use a Pinky4 and have all the modifiers easily reachable by thumb. Backspace and space as well. There is a gap of no keys in the corners that means the furthest left thumb key on the left half is still as far right as alt/command on traditional keyboards.
comboy 4y ago
Have you tried mapping Ctrl to your CapsLock key? Pressed without any combination - Esc, with some other key(s) - Ctrl. It is under pinky, but in a very comfortable position, just like Enter.
wishfish 4y ago
Maybe I'm the only one, but I remapped Cmd to Ctrl. After a lifetime of Windows and Linux using Ctrl as the main modifier key, this made things much easier for me. Having it be pinkie based has never been an issue. At least not for me. Others will vary, of course.
alana314 4y ago
I use Karabiner-Elements to remap right option to right control. Apple should have made this key a control key IMO.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

grimgrin 4y ago

re: “priceless”, i mean i agree and set alt to ctrl for the same vibe on linux and windows but otoh ppl have strong opinions for the exact same reasons (hand/finger dexterity) by assigning ctrl to caps lock less weird-pinky/hand-rotation does feel like a win, though

still_grokking 4y ago

> 1) It will become hard to use Ctrl-based text navigation shortcuts (such as Ctrl+left to navigate one word left) with one hand Why would it be any different than on macOS? > 2) Ctrl+Tab will now use the same physical keys as Alt+Tab used to, and your brain will never heal from this (at least mine refuses to). So why not switch this also? Where's the problem? At least on Linux there are no issues. It's mostly clicking one checkbox, and changing "Alt-Tab" to "Ctrl-Tab".

nikitaga 4y ago
> Why would it be any different than on macOS? Because in MacOS those arrow-based text shortcuts are Alt-based, not Ctrl-based, and right Alt is already located right next to the arrow keys where it's most convenient for those particular shortcuts. It does not need any remapping since in MacOS the Alt key is not used for most other system shortcuts, unlike the Ctrl key on Windows/Linux. > At least on Linux there are no issues. It's mostly clicking one checkbox, and changing "Alt-Tab" to "Ctrl-Tab". Been there tried that, on Ubuntu, last attempt a couple years ago. Does not work, many apps have Ctrl+tab hard coded to switch between their tabs, so if you make Ctrl+tab the system shortcut for switching apps, you can't switch tabs in those hardcoding apps anymore.
- still_grokking 4y ago
  > Because in MacOS those arrow-based text shortcuts are Alt-based, not Ctrl-based, and right Alt is already located right next to the arrow keys where it's most convenient for those particular shortcuts. Where's the problem to tick a checkbox and change that? > Been there tried that, on Ubuntu, last attempt a couple years ago. Does not work, many apps have Ctrl+tab hard coded to switch between their tabs, so if you make Ctrl+tab the system shortcut for switching apps, you can't switch tabs in those hardcoding apps anymore. Once again, that are GTK problems. Just avoid GTK (v3 and later) and Electron and there are no usability issues. Simple as that. But I'm repeating myself.
  - nikitaga 4y ago
    > Where's the problem to tick a checkbox and change that? What checkbox do you mean? (I understood the one about ctrl+tab, but not this one) I'll give KDE a shot next time, but I think some apps I use heavily are actually GTK apps (such as Firefox), we'll see how it goes.
    - still_grokking 4y ago
      > What checkbox do you mean? (I understood the one about ctrl+tab, but not this one) Maybe I'm confused, but I have an right Ctrl and a right Alt. Both keys are left to the arrow keys. I thought you wanted to switch around also those two keys. That would be ticking a checkbox in the keyboard config afik. > I'll give KDE a shot next time, but I think some apps I use heavily are actually GTK apps (such as Firefox), we'll see how it goes. I also use Firefox. It uses GTK. But this makes no difference as Firefox does its own thing anyway. It uses GTK only under the hood. The two most annoying things with Firefox are solvable: You can use custom.css to switch around the OK / Cancel buttons in dialogs (thankfully they don't use "real" GTK dialogs but some XUL, otherwise you would need to patch the GTK libs) and one can have proper file-dialogs by now through the desktop-portal interface. So Firefox remains its own thing but at least the GTK parts don't creep up anymore. Oh, and global menu does not work in FF (even it works for "normal" GTK apps). Also they still didn't manage to make keyboard shortcuts configurable. But that are FF issues on any desktop or OS…

opan 4y ago

It's also worth considering changing your keyboard itself. I use a Pinky4 and have all the modifiers easily reachable by thumb. Backspace and space as well. There is a gap of no keys in the corners that means the furthest left thumb key on the left half is still as far right as alt/command on traditional keyboards.

comboy 4y ago

Have you tried mapping Ctrl to your CapsLock key? Pressed without any combination - Esc, with some other key(s) - Ctrl. It is under pinky, but in a very comfortable position, just like Enter.

wishfish 4y ago

Maybe I'm the only one, but I remapped Cmd to Ctrl. After a lifetime of Windows and Linux using Ctrl as the main modifier key, this made things much easier for me. Having it be pinkie based has never been an issue. At least not for me. Others will vary, of course.

alana314 4y ago

I use Karabiner-Elements to remap right option to right control. Apple should have made this key a control key IMO.