4 ms·

Gotta give a shoutout to kanata[1] which I have used daily for years at this point after giving up on QMK-powered keyboards. QMK itself is great, but I was nev

by bsnnkv 3y ago

Gotta give a shoutout to kanata[1] which I have used daily for years at this point after giving up on QMK-powered keyboards. QMK itself is great, but I was never able to find a non-columnar split ISO keyboard to use it with. Eventually I reluctantly settled on the Logitech K860[2] and I'm now happily using my favourite features from QMK with kanata at the software level. [1]: https://github.com/jtroo/kanata https://github.com/jtroo/kanata [2]: If I'm behind the times and there is now a QMK-compatible keyboard that looks like this, please let me know!

7839284023 3y ago
> QMK itself is great, but I was never able to find a non-columnar split ISO keyboard to use it with. https://keychron.de/products/keychron-q11-qmk-custom-mechanical-keyboard-iso-layout-collection https://keychron.de/products/keychron-q11-qmk-custom-mechani...
- jsheard 3y ago
  or https://nullbits.co/snap/ https://nullbits.co/snap/ if you don't mind a more DIY approach
- bsnnkv 3y ago
  This looks excellent! I have gone down a bit of a rabbit hole and I'm considering once of the Alice ISO keyboards[1], perhaps even waiting until the low-profile Alice variants are available in ISO layouts[2]. [1]: https://keychron.de/products/keychron-v10-alice-layout-qmk-custom-mechanical-keyboard-iso-layout-collection https://keychron.de/products/keychron-v10-alice-layout-qmk-c... [2]: https://keychron.de/products/keychron-k15-pro-alice-layout-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard https://keychron.de/products/keychron-k15-pro-alice-layout-q...
- bostik 3y ago
  Both Q10 and Q11 are good. I have one of each in their respective uses. Q11 may possibly be even better for someone prone to RSI, because you can set the halves up angled even wider apart. Just make sure to get a good wrist support to go with the keyboards, no matter which you go with: they are thick, and that makes them positionally elevated from the surface they are on. With two more things they would be pretty much perfect. An embedded USB port on both sides, so you could slot a YubiKey nano on your chosen edge. And a double-sized Esc-key. The latter is the single thing I miss from Kinesis Freestyle's form factor.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
UnserMannInK 3y ago
I have also used the K860 and I like it. I stumbled across Chad Austin’s Microsoft Sculpt wired conversion [1] and I have been using it for some time now. Apart from the abysmal function keys it’s a decent keyboard, and with QMK you can make it do whatever you want. [1]: https://chadaustin.me/2021/02/wired-sculpt/ https://chadaustin.me/2021/02/wired-sculpt/
zvmaz 3y ago
I use a Keychron Q11, a split row staggered keyboard. On the laptop, I use Kmonad on linux with home row mods but I think I will switch to Kanata because it seems more compatible with Windows (work OS). I have been using home row mods for a few days now and I feel that it has greatly alleviated the pain I have on the left pinky finger (remapping caps lock to control and using Emacs keybindings for years did that I think). I am tempted to switch to a columnar staggered keyboard, specifically ZSA's voyager, but I don't know if I will adapt to the layout. Maybe someone with more experience can give advice here... I tried to change the keyboard layout to a more "ergonomic" layout (optimot), but after months of training, I could never gain the proficiency I have in AZERTY. I think it's not worth it to switch.
- bsnnkv 3y ago
  I have both an Ergodox and a Ferris which are both now gathering dust. In my experience, columnar layouts are not worth it for me as a developer, because there is nothing that I can gain from a layout that changes the position of the {};'<>() keys that will ever offset the productivity and familiarity lost by those keys never being where I expect them to be.
  - zvmaz 3y ago
    So what do you use Kanata for if you don't mind the question?
    - bsnnkv 3y ago
      I have a bunch of home row mods, and I also have layers with dedicated app-specific utility-mappings that I have automatically toggle on when the relevant app window is focused so that I don't have to waste extra keys to toggle/switch between different layers.
  - rrradical 3y ago
    I feel like it took a month to get fully used to and then I haven’t looked back. I did have an RSI motivation.
mike986 3y ago
https://keeb.io/collections/sinc https://keeb.io/collections/sinc https://keeb.io/collections/kbo-5000-split-staggered-80-keyboard https://keeb.io/collections/kbo-5000-split-staggered-80-keyb...

by bsnnkv 3y ago

7839284023 3y ago

> QMK itself is great, but I was never able to find a non-columnar split ISO keyboard to use it with. https://keychron.de/products/keychron-q11-qmk-custom-mechanical-keyboard-iso-layout-collection https://keychron.de/products/keychron-q11-qmk-custom-mechani...

jsheard 3y ago
or https://nullbits.co/snap/ https://nullbits.co/snap/ if you don't mind a more DIY approach
bsnnkv 3y ago
This looks excellent! I have gone down a bit of a rabbit hole and I'm considering once of the Alice ISO keyboards[1], perhaps even waiting until the low-profile Alice variants are available in ISO layouts[2]. [1]: https://keychron.de/products/keychron-v10-alice-layout-qmk-custom-mechanical-keyboard-iso-layout-collection https://keychron.de/products/keychron-v10-alice-layout-qmk-c... [2]: https://keychron.de/products/keychron-k15-pro-alice-layout-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard https://keychron.de/products/keychron-k15-pro-alice-layout-q...
bostik 3y ago
Both Q10 and Q11 are good. I have one of each in their respective uses. Q11 may possibly be even better for someone prone to RSI, because you can set the halves up angled even wider apart. Just make sure to get a good wrist support to go with the keyboards, no matter which you go with: they are thick, and that makes them positionally elevated from the surface they are on. With two more things they would be pretty much perfect. An embedded USB port on both sides, so you could slot a YubiKey nano on your chosen edge. And a double-sized Esc-key. The latter is the single thing I miss from Kinesis Freestyle's form factor.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

UnserMannInK 3y ago

I have also used the K860 and I like it. I stumbled across Chad Austin’s Microsoft Sculpt wired conversion [1] and I have been using it for some time now. Apart from the abysmal function keys it’s a decent keyboard, and with QMK you can make it do whatever you want. [1]: https://chadaustin.me/2021/02/wired-sculpt/ https://chadaustin.me/2021/02/wired-sculpt/

zvmaz 3y ago

I use a Keychron Q11, a split row staggered keyboard. On the laptop, I use Kmonad on linux with home row mods but I think I will switch to Kanata because it seems more compatible with Windows (work OS). I have been using home row mods for a few days now and I feel that it has greatly alleviated the pain I have on the left pinky finger (remapping caps lock to control and using Emacs keybindings for years did that I think). I am tempted to switch to a columnar staggered keyboard, specifically ZSA's voyager, but I don't know if I will adapt to the layout. Maybe someone with more experience can give advice here... I tried to change the keyboard layout to a more "ergonomic" layout (optimot), but after months of training, I could never gain the proficiency I have in AZERTY. I think it's not worth it to switch.

bsnnkv 3y ago
I have both an Ergodox and a Ferris which are both now gathering dust. In my experience, columnar layouts are not worth it for me as a developer, because there is nothing that I can gain from a layout that changes the position of the {};'<>() keys that will ever offset the productivity and familiarity lost by those keys never being where I expect them to be.
- zvmaz 3y ago
  So what do you use Kanata for if you don't mind the question?
  - bsnnkv 3y ago
    I have a bunch of home row mods, and I also have layers with dedicated app-specific utility-mappings that I have automatically toggle on when the relevant app window is focused so that I don't have to waste extra keys to toggle/switch between different layers.
- rrradical 3y ago
  I feel like it took a month to get fully used to and then I haven’t looked back. I did have an RSI motivation.

mike986 3y ago

https://keeb.io/collections/sinc https://keeb.io/collections/sinc https://keeb.io/collections/kbo-5000-split-staggered-80-keyboard https://keeb.io/collections/kbo-5000-split-staggered-80-keyb...