> A proper Unix keyboard layout must have escape next to 1 and control next to A. I don't get it, why is this a hard requirement?
Vim reasons I'm guessing
The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
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Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#12I've built a few custom keyboard myself. What always stings though are the fairly limited keycap sizes that are available. I found you need to more or less target the least common denominator among keycaps lest you find yourself pigeon-holed into one single source for your keycaps. To that end, really wide spacebars are out — you'll either have empty real estate along the bottom row or end up adding arbitrary "filler…
Yes, the downside of this layout is that inexpensive keycap sets usually lack the necessary extras. I am brewing a followup blog post with some notes on some of the more subtle things I have learned about keycaps.
Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#13> A proper Unix keyboard layout must have escape next to 1 and control next to A. I don't get it, why is this a hard requirement?
I suspect because (some?) computer terminals had the escape key there, e.g. VT-100
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/vt100.html
Contrast this with, say, a typewriter that would have no use for ESC.
Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#14I like this layout. I'm used to the F keys tho...
The lack of F keys continues to boggle my mind on these custom layouts. I need to be be able to mash F5 or F8 at a moments notice without any chording nonsense. Unless you are working from an ironing board, most desks have ample “vertical” space to extend towards the monitor with the extra keyboard row.
Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#15First glance I thought this was silly with left ctrl changed to fn But on closer look, I saw caps lock was changed to ctrl. Which is what I do on all my computers I hope the Framework ecosystem grows so we might someday see a keyboard like this for it
And no CapsLock at all. Bug or feature?
If you need capslock that’s easy to emulate in software nowadays. For instance KDE has a default option to toggle capslock by pressing both shift keys.
Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#16Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#17I am continually baffled by how keyboard enthusiasts almost never have ergonomic layouts. If you care this much about typing, surely the first thing you do is get an ergo layout. The rectangle layout is really bad, people! How can you spend this much time and energy and money on keyboards, and keep using the awful rectangle layout?
Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#18I am continually baffled by how keyboard enthusiasts almost never have ergonomic layouts. If you care this much about typing, surely the first thing you do is get an ergo layout. The rectangle layout is really bad, people! How can you spend this much time and energy and money on keyboards, and keep using the awful rectangle layout?
Let's just be honest... We like the way it looks more than we care about our long term health.
Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#19> A proper Unix keyboard layout must have escape next to 1 and control next to A. I don't get it, why is this a hard requirement?
Vim reasons I'm guessing
If you want to have Escape in a good position, then the far top left is a really bad position, as is having Control on the caps lock position. But then to change that you'd need to reconsider the keyboard layout itself, which seems like a too big of a mental hurdle for most people.
Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice
#20I am continually baffled by how keyboard enthusiasts almost never have ergonomic layouts. If you care this much about typing, surely the first thing you do is get an ergo layout. The rectangle layout is really bad, people! How can you spend this much time and energy and money on keyboards, and keep using the awful rectangle layout?
It’s not even a rectangle, it’s a parallelogram (both hands move “up-left” or “down-right”). It’s quite baffling