4 ms·

Swap your CTRL and caps lock keys. It will make it a lot easier to use.

by damontal 11y ago

htns 11y ago
No, swap your alt-gr and ctrl.
- renke1 11y ago
  Put Ctrl on left Alt. And left Alt und right Alt (Alt-Gr). Then you are free to finally map Caps Lock to Escape. After that map left Ctrl such that left Ctrl+E/S/D/F is Up, Left, Down and Right.
  - htns 11y ago
    I map esc to the key between left shift and Z. It doesn't exist on US keyboards, though. And I put backspace on caps-lock. What I don't understand is putting any kind of simultaneous combo key on caps-lock, since caps-lock + a is not really easy to press. It doesn't help that many keyboards have a bit of a gap between a and caps-lock (to help position the left hand and prevent accidental caps-locking?).
Dewie3 11y ago
I guess this is if you use your pinky to hold down CTRL? I try to mostly use the knuckle below my pinky fingers[1] to hold down CTRL. This can be harder on certain keyboards, and I guess especially laptop keyboards. I think I learnt this from some kind of ErgoEmacs article/webpage. I also use god-mode, and one of the tips is to swap ESC with CAPS-LOCK (ESC is used to toggle god-mode). Nonetheless, I guess most of us can agree that CAPS-LOCK is in a too convenient position compared to its normal utility. :p [1] I use my left hand to hold down CTRL when it's more comfortable to press the next key with my right hand (like in C-u), and vice versa.
- molteanu 11y ago
  Yes, that was from ErgoEmacs. Very nice info in there.
molteanu 11y ago
Nope, don't do that. Learn to proper touch-type instead. Use your palms to press the ctrl keys. See: http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html . You can then use Ctrl+m instead of Enter at the command line, as well. Save both pinkies from the extra effort.
- brudgers 11y ago
  A keyboard with symmetrically placed C and M keys is another piece of Xah Lee's sound advice: http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html I've been using the MicroSoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 for several years and it has improved my touch for M and C. Recently, I've been applying that on my ThinkPad [chosen because of the symmetric layout] and am removing some additional bad habits related to left-C right-C.
- inclemnet 11y ago
  I've seen these arguments before, but find them very unconvincing. I've no idea how I'm supposed to comfortably press ctrl with my palm, the issues with 'now hotkeys are in bad places' are resolved by just not having capslock at all (although I don't actually have any difficulty pressing anything either way), and the pinky load/awkwardness just doesn't seem that important to me, I don't think the keyboard is particularly well calibrated to use the pinkys appropriately anyway. I'm happy for some people to find these things important and type differently, but what is the evidence that it is actively wrong to bind caps-lock as ctrl? Edit: There are a lot of good points in these pages and I appreciate that the author has made many customisations in pursuit of an ideal layout, and the principle of sharing load between hands equally is a good one. It's just that I'm quite unconvinced that having capslock act as ctrl is a terrible thing, especially compared to many other changes that can be made even on a normal keyboard layout.
- weland 11y ago
  Using your palms to press the ctrl keys is only seriously possible on some curved keyboards. Everyone else, who prefers to touch keys with their fingers, like they were meant to, is going to do the sensible stuff and put the more frequently used modifier in the more easily-reachable place. All this press-ctrl-with-your-palms fad is a problem solved in the wrong place. And I have to say I dislike the tone of that page, too: > Swapped but never had a problem [...] > Because you don't actually type that much. Right.
m3talridl3y 11y ago
If emacs expects 3 modifier keys, and emacs is wildly popular with programmers, then why hasn't someone made a keyboard with the windows key renamed and remapped to the missing meta key?
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  Meta is Alt.
- abecedarius 11y ago
  I do use that remapping with a Kinesis keyboard.
- webaholic 11y ago
  Look up HHKB, that is what the best emacs users I know prefer to use.
- emacsfodder 11y ago
  you mean like this? http://i.imgur.com/evUJkAv.jpg http://i.imgur.com/evUJkAv.jpg
- shabble 11y ago
  I feel like if there was a "One True Emacs Keyboard", it would probably be something like http://mykeyboard.co.uk/microswitch/ http://mykeyboard.co.uk/microswitch/

Swap your CTRL and caps lock keys. It will make it a lot easier to use.

htns 11y ago

No, swap your alt-gr and ctrl.

renke1 11y ago
Put Ctrl on left Alt. And left Alt und right Alt (Alt-Gr). Then you are free to finally map Caps Lock to Escape. After that map left Ctrl such that left Ctrl+E/S/D/F is Up, Left, Down and Right.
- htns 11y ago
  I map esc to the key between left shift and Z. It doesn't exist on US keyboards, though. And I put backspace on caps-lock. What I don't understand is putting any kind of simultaneous combo key on caps-lock, since caps-lock + a is not really easy to press. It doesn't help that many keyboards have a bit of a gap between a and caps-lock (to help position the left hand and prevent accidental caps-locking?).

Dewie3 11y ago

I guess this is if you use your pinky to hold down CTRL? I try to mostly use the knuckle below my pinky fingers[1] to hold down CTRL. This can be harder on certain keyboards, and I guess especially laptop keyboards. I think I learnt this from some kind of ErgoEmacs article/webpage. I also use god-mode, and one of the tips is to swap ESC with CAPS-LOCK (ESC is used to toggle god-mode). Nonetheless, I guess most of us can agree that CAPS-LOCK is in a too convenient position compared to its normal utility. :p [1] I use my left hand to hold down CTRL when it's more comfortable to press the next key with my right hand (like in C-u), and vice versa.

molteanu 11y ago
Yes, that was from ErgoEmacs. Very nice info in there.

molteanu 11y ago

Nope, don't do that. Learn to proper touch-type instead. Use your palms to press the ctrl keys. See: http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html . You can then use Ctrl+m instead of Enter at the command line, as well. Save both pinkies from the extra effort.

brudgers 11y ago
A keyboard with symmetrically placed C and M keys is another piece of Xah Lee's sound advice: http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html I've been using the MicroSoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 for several years and it has improved my touch for M and C. Recently, I've been applying that on my ThinkPad [chosen because of the symmetric layout] and am removing some additional bad habits related to left-C right-C.
inclemnet 11y ago
I've seen these arguments before, but find them very unconvincing. I've no idea how I'm supposed to comfortably press ctrl with my palm, the issues with 'now hotkeys are in bad places' are resolved by just not having capslock at all (although I don't actually have any difficulty pressing anything either way), and the pinky load/awkwardness just doesn't seem that important to me, I don't think the keyboard is particularly well calibrated to use the pinkys appropriately anyway. I'm happy for some people to find these things important and type differently, but what is the evidence that it is actively wrong to bind caps-lock as ctrl? Edit: There are a lot of good points in these pages and I appreciate that the author has made many customisations in pursuit of an ideal layout, and the principle of sharing load between hands equally is a good one. It's just that I'm quite unconvinced that having capslock act as ctrl is a terrible thing, especially compared to many other changes that can be made even on a normal keyboard layout.
weland 11y ago
Using your palms to press the ctrl keys is only seriously possible on some curved keyboards. Everyone else, who prefers to touch keys with their fingers, like they were meant to, is going to do the sensible stuff and put the more frequently used modifier in the more easily-reachable place. All this press-ctrl-with-your-palms fad is a problem solved in the wrong place. And I have to say I dislike the tone of that page, too: > Swapped but never had a problem [...] > Because you don't actually type that much. Right.

m3talridl3y 11y ago

If emacs expects 3 modifier keys, and emacs is wildly popular with programmers, then why hasn't someone made a keyboard with the windows key renamed and remapped to the missing meta key?

TeMPOraL 11y ago
Meta is Alt.
abecedarius 11y ago
I do use that remapping with a Kinesis keyboard.
webaholic 11y ago
Look up HHKB, that is what the best emacs users I know prefer to use.
emacsfodder 11y ago
you mean like this? http://i.imgur.com/evUJkAv.jpg http://i.imgur.com/evUJkAv.jpg
shabble 11y ago
I feel like if there was a "One True Emacs Keyboard", it would probably be something like http://mykeyboard.co.uk/microswitch/ http://mykeyboard.co.uk/microswitch/