6 ms·

Your are indeed! Many people like myself prefer the lightning fast interaction of keyboard navigation, the mastery of the bindings to improve workflows, and the

Your are indeed! Many people like myself prefer the lightning fast interaction of keyboard navigation, the mastery of the bindings to improve workflows, and the customization of bindings to create new ones.

tills13 2y ago
ok but GMail for example has keyboard shortcuts.
- Ringz 2y ago
  Yeah, but I don’t have to learn new shortcuts since I can configure Aerc exactly like I want (and how my mental VIM shortcut model works).
  - simonask 2y ago
    This has to be a pretty backwards argument, to be honest. You may not have to learn "new shortcuts" (they're pretty standard), but you're perfectly willing to learn an entire text-based configuration scheme? VIM has its merits for _editing_ code, but that's not what you're doing with e-mails. You're usually just writing them and sending them off. It doesn't matter if you can save a few keystrokes to, say, change a word a few paragraphs back, and you're not producing structured text in any meaningful way. It's perfectly fine to like the terminal, but you _have_ to admit it is a preference that has nothing to do with "efficiency".
    - Ringz 2y ago
      I must respectfully disagree. It's far from just about writing an email; it's about managing hundreds of emails. With Vim keybindings, I can switch between email accounts, folders, and individual emails in Aerc at lightning speed. I can select emails using the same keybindings as I would to select lines of text in Vim. Then, I can use those same keybindings to delete, move, copy, or mark emails. The efficiency? It's many times better once you understand the Vim mindset. Plus, I can use the same keybinding system in other programs too. Take a look at [oil.nvim](https://github.com/stevearc/oil.nvim https://github.com/stevearc/oil.nvim), NNN, or [yazi](https://github.com/sxyazi/yazi https://github.com/sxyazi/yazi), or mpv or surfingkeys in your browser. For Yazi, I even created a hardcore Vim configuration that makes it even easier and more efficient for any user familiar with Vim keybindings. Just one example: look at your email program. Perhaps you have a folder open with 100 emails. Now, imagine that each email is nothing more than a line of text. So, you have a document with 100 lines of text. In Aerc, I can simply jump to the first line (the first email) with `gg`. And with `G`, I can jump to the last email. With `ff`, I filter all emails that have the same sender. With `fs`, all that have the same subject. With `V`, I mark an email, and with `X` or `dd`, I can delete the email. Before that, I can mark all the emails I filtered with `G`. If I don't want to delete them but move them instead, I just press `pf` and enter the first letters of the desired folder where I want to move my emails. I can also set certain folders where I often move emails as shortcuts. For example, `pb` to move emails to the "Brain" folder. Have a look at my simple config: https://github.com/rafo/aerc-vim/blob/main/binds.conf https://github.com/rafo/aerc-vim/blob/main/binds.conf Once understood, everything becomes incredibly fast. Tip: try surfingkeys in your browser.
- consteval 2y ago
  GMail, the web client, is an almost worthless email client. It has like maybe 1% of the features of thunderbird. As with most web apps, it's more of a preview than an application.
echoangle 2y ago
Aren’t keyboard shortcuts and TUI/GUI pretty orthogonal? Is there not GUI client that has proper keyboard navigation?

tills13 2y ago

ok but GMail for example has keyboard shortcuts.

Ringz 2y ago
Yeah, but I don’t have to learn new shortcuts since I can configure Aerc exactly like I want (and how my mental VIM shortcut model works).
- simonask 2y ago
  This has to be a pretty backwards argument, to be honest. You may not have to learn "new shortcuts" (they're pretty standard), but you're perfectly willing to learn an entire text-based configuration scheme? VIM has its merits for _editing_ code, but that's not what you're doing with e-mails. You're usually just writing them and sending them off. It doesn't matter if you can save a few keystrokes to, say, change a word a few paragraphs back, and you're not producing structured text in any meaningful way. It's perfectly fine to like the terminal, but you _have_ to admit it is a preference that has nothing to do with "efficiency".
  - Ringz 2y ago
    I must respectfully disagree. It's far from just about writing an email; it's about managing hundreds of emails. With Vim keybindings, I can switch between email accounts, folders, and individual emails in Aerc at lightning speed. I can select emails using the same keybindings as I would to select lines of text in Vim. Then, I can use those same keybindings to delete, move, copy, or mark emails. The efficiency? It's many times better once you understand the Vim mindset. Plus, I can use the same keybinding system in other programs too. Take a look at [oil.nvim](https://github.com/stevearc/oil.nvim https://github.com/stevearc/oil.nvim), NNN, or [yazi](https://github.com/sxyazi/yazi https://github.com/sxyazi/yazi), or mpv or surfingkeys in your browser. For Yazi, I even created a hardcore Vim configuration that makes it even easier and more efficient for any user familiar with Vim keybindings. Just one example: look at your email program. Perhaps you have a folder open with 100 emails. Now, imagine that each email is nothing more than a line of text. So, you have a document with 100 lines of text. In Aerc, I can simply jump to the first line (the first email) with `gg`. And with `G`, I can jump to the last email. With `ff`, I filter all emails that have the same sender. With `fs`, all that have the same subject. With `V`, I mark an email, and with `X` or `dd`, I can delete the email. Before that, I can mark all the emails I filtered with `G`. If I don't want to delete them but move them instead, I just press `pf` and enter the first letters of the desired folder where I want to move my emails. I can also set certain folders where I often move emails as shortcuts. For example, `pb` to move emails to the "Brain" folder. Have a look at my simple config: https://github.com/rafo/aerc-vim/blob/main/binds.conf https://github.com/rafo/aerc-vim/blob/main/binds.conf Once understood, everything becomes incredibly fast. Tip: try surfingkeys in your browser.
consteval 2y ago
GMail, the web client, is an almost worthless email client. It has like maybe 1% of the features of thunderbird. As with most web apps, it's more of a preview than an application.

echoangle 2y ago

Aren’t keyboard shortcuts and TUI/GUI pretty orthogonal? Is there not GUI client that has proper keyboard navigation?