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You could probably make an equally powerful modeless editor but I don't see how it could be anywhere near vim-like. Maybe if you had a foot pedal to indicate wh

You could probably make an equally powerful modeless editor but I don't see how it could be anywhere near vim-like. Maybe if you had a foot pedal to indicate what modes to interpret input sequences in.

TheZenPsycho 12y ago
What about ditching the caps-lock key and making it a "command" key, that you hold down to type in a command?
- icebraining 12y ago
  Typing ":%s/<complex regex>/<replacement>" while holding caps-lock would get old rather fast, in my opinion.
  - ben0x539 12y ago
    You'd really only need to hold it for the first character of any command, I guess. Though holding shift+capslock+; to write a capslock-: feels weird.
    - Dylan16807 12y ago
      That's not a mode trigger?
      - cturner 12y ago
        But isn't it interesting that people would find that easy to use, despite being modal? This suggests that the conclusion from the article - to avoid modes - misses the point.
        dredmorbius 12y ago
        Which was precisely my point :)
      - ben0x539 12y ago
        imo not any more than hitting ctrl-f in notepad to bring up the search dialog is a mode trigger. Meaning I guess technically it is one but I don't parse it as such.
- pcl 12y ago
  Note that on Mac and Windows, at least, you can trivially do this remapping. I do it on all my computers. On a Mac, the keyboard preference pane in system prefs has a "modifier keys" section, which is bizarrely separately configurable for the built-in keyboard vs. a USB keyboard on their laptops. On Linux, the configuration is different for the VT vs. window managers.
  - duskwuff 12y ago
    It's configurable per-keyboard because not all keyboards have modifiers laid out the same way. Mac keyboards have the bottom row ordered Ctrl, Alt, Cmd; Windows keyboards are ordered as Ctrl, Win, Alt. So, if you're using a Windows USB keyboard on an Apple laptop, you'll often want to swap Cmd (= Win) and Alt on the USB keyboard, but leave them alone on the internal one.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
robryk 12y ago
Some built such a foot pedal: https://github.com/alevchuk/vim-clutch https://github.com/alevchuk/vim-clutch
- MrBuddyCasino 12y ago
  I should have known. Still made my day.
- kazinator 12y ago
  Use of this silly pedal will hamper the user from learning various insert commands like a, A, o and O, and ones that combine motions with insert like C, cw, and so on. A switch built into the chair seat which generates ESC when the user gets up could be useful, though.
30thElement 12y ago
Vim kinda has this. You can spend your entire time in insert mode, and then use <CTRL>-O to run an individual command.

TheZenPsycho 12y ago

What about ditching the caps-lock key and making it a "command" key, that you hold down to type in a command?

icebraining 12y ago
Typing ":%s/<complex regex>/<replacement>" while holding caps-lock would get old rather fast, in my opinion.
- ben0x539 12y ago
  You'd really only need to hold it for the first character of any command, I guess. Though holding shift+capslock+; to write a capslock-: feels weird.
  - Dylan16807 12y ago
    That's not a mode trigger?
    - cturner 12y ago
      But isn't it interesting that people would find that easy to use, despite being modal? This suggests that the conclusion from the article - to avoid modes - misses the point.
      - dredmorbius 12y ago
        Which was precisely my point :)
    - ben0x539 12y ago
      imo not any more than hitting ctrl-f in notepad to bring up the search dialog is a mode trigger. Meaning I guess technically it is one but I don't parse it as such.
pcl 12y ago
Note that on Mac and Windows, at least, you can trivially do this remapping. I do it on all my computers. On a Mac, the keyboard preference pane in system prefs has a "modifier keys" section, which is bizarrely separately configurable for the built-in keyboard vs. a USB keyboard on their laptops. On Linux, the configuration is different for the VT vs. window managers.
- duskwuff 12y ago
  It's configurable per-keyboard because not all keyboards have modifiers laid out the same way. Mac keyboards have the bottom row ordered Ctrl, Alt, Cmd; Windows keyboards are ordered as Ctrl, Win, Alt. So, if you're using a Windows USB keyboard on an Apple laptop, you'll often want to swap Cmd (= Win) and Alt on the USB keyboard, but leave them alone on the internal one.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

robryk 12y ago

Some built such a foot pedal: https://github.com/alevchuk/vim-clutch https://github.com/alevchuk/vim-clutch

MrBuddyCasino 12y ago
I should have known. Still made my day.
kazinator 12y ago
Use of this silly pedal will hamper the user from learning various insert commands like a, A, o and O, and ones that combine motions with insert like C, cw, and so on. A switch built into the chair seat which generates ESC when the user gets up could be useful, though.

30thElement 12y ago

Vim kinda has this. You can spend your entire time in insert mode, and then use <CTRL>-O to run an individual command.