"I wish we hadn't used all the keys on the keyboard." -Bill Joy
The Joys of Unix Keyboards
111–120 of 144 posts
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#112Somewhat related - I _love_ the fact that MacOS still maps Ctrl-H to backspace. I recently started instinctively using it as a backspace when typing (finally, thanks to a combination of laziness and vim). I'm finding it extremely comfortable (alongside xcape). Highly recommend trying it, especially if you're a Mac user.
MacOS and every other Unix.Ctrl-N,Ctrl-P, Ctrl-I... these don't just work in emacs.
Yeah, I'm constantly surprised at how many places the relatively less well-known Ctrl-T works (like in all the Electron apps I use)…
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#113I don't understand the commenter saying they don't want to spend $200 on a keyboard. That's a $200 investment on something you'll likely spend more time with than your bed, your car, and your sofa. Over 10 years that's maybe 0.9 cents per hour of use. It's worth having your perfect keyboard. I have a custom print 88 key wasdkeyboards.com one. Yes, your work should buy you your perfect keyboard, but if they don't then…
Are common keyboards really that bad? I don't really think there's enough benefit in investing the time and effort and money in working out and purchasing your absolute perfect layout if it only deviates from the standard by a small amount. Even the keyboard in the article only deviates from the standard by a few keys.
It's all subjective of course, but personally I'd prefer to be able to use any keyboard anywhere without much drama. I don't feel like I'm suffering much, even if it's not my "perfect" layout.
That said, I do have caps lock remapped to escape on all my personal devices. The muscle memory isn't so bad that I don't remember to hit the ESC key on keyboards that aren't mine though.
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#114I don't understand the commenter saying they don't want to spend $200 on a keyboard. That's a $200 investment on something you'll likely spend more time with than your bed, your car, and your sofa. Over 10 years that's maybe 0.9 cents per hour of use. It's worth having your perfect keyboard. I have a custom print 88 key wasdkeyboards.com one. Yes, your work should buy you your perfect keyboard, but if they don't then…
Are common keyboards really that bad? I don't really think there's enough benefit in investing the time and effort and money in working out and purchasing your absolute perfect layout if it only deviates from the standard by a small amount. Even the keyboard in the article only deviates from the standard by a few keys. It's all subjective of course, but personally I'd prefer to be able to use any keyboard anywhere wi…
The way I see it, common keyboards are underpriced due to extreme competition, and top-shelf keyboards are overpriced because they're a niche market. So common keyboards aren't that bad, even if they're very cheap, but I think it's definitely worth it to spend ~$100 on a keyboard, which I think is a lot more palpable to people whose job involves typing.
I'm going to make up some arbitrary numbers, hopefully they'll make it more clear. I use a Planck, which cost about $110. Looking at Amazon, I found an alright-looking Logitech for ~$15.
Is typing on the Planck 7x better? Probably not. Is it 2x more enjoyable? I'd say so! Unfortunately, there are no $30 keyboards that are as good, but I'm fine with paying the big premium because the cheap version is already so cheap.
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#115> I can't imagine why anyone thought Caps Lock should have had this prominent of placement. Caps Lock was originally Shift Lock on typewriters, and was adjacent to the Shift key because it was literally a mechanical locking device to hold the Shift key down.
Yup, and remember the IBM PC was originally intended as a "business PC". So they modeled the keyboard on previous bushiness machines (typewriters, 3270 terminals, etc) so that those bushiness users IBM saw as their primary customers would have a familiar keyboard to work on. Definitely a consideration in a time where keyboard skills were considered important enough there was often a high school class devoted to it.
My opinion is, the original PC Model F keyboard is good, except it doesn't have lights.
I do sometimes use caps lock, when writing many words in all uppercase (used sometimes in computer programming; even in other text it may sometimes be used for titles and so on). (I also use num lock, both on and off. And also scroll lock, too, sometimes. I use all of the keys on the computer, sometimes.)
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#116In Japan, the Unix-style keyboard layout has been pretty popular among IT people, as people don't need Caps Lock as much. Personally though, I can't stand for the HHK key touch (too soft for me).
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#117Unicomp (the company that took over IBM/Lexmark's buckling spring tooling) makes a Sun layout keyboard which is also worth mentioning for those who like a larger keyboard: https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/40PSA (Not affiliated with Unicomp, I'm just a fan of the Sun keyboard layout)
Holy crap, they make springy Model M style keyboards optimized for Mac. Likely my next keyboard and possibly a gift to others...
If you live in Australia, I could sell you my macOS unicomp model M.
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#118Unicomp (the company that took over IBM/Lexmark's buckling spring tooling) makes a Sun layout keyboard which is also worth mentioning for those who like a larger keyboard: https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/40PSA (Not affiliated with Unicomp, I'm just a fan of the Sun keyboard layout)
Me too. I also like its label slapped at the bottom of the keyboard, which reads "Made in U.S.A.". Kind of makes me a proud owner even though I'm not American.
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#119> I can't imagine why anyone thought Caps Lock should have had this prominent of placement.
Typewriters need the caps lock there because it's literally a locking mechanism, keeping the shift button pressed down.
Re: The Joys of Unix Keyboards
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are common keyboards really that bad? I don't really think there's enough benefit in investing the time and effort and money in working out and purchasing your absolute perfect layout if it only deviates from the standard by a small amount. Even the keyboard in the article only deviates from the standard by a few keys. It's all subjective of course, but personally I'd prefer to be able to use any keyboard anywhere wi…
The way I see it, common keyboards are underpriced due to extreme competition, and top-shelf keyboards are overpriced because they're a niche market. So common keyboards aren't that bad , even if they're very cheap, but I think it's definitely worth it to spend ~$100 on a keyboard, which I think is a lot more palpable to people whose job involves typing. I'm going to make up some arbitrary numbers, hopefully they'll…
It doesn’t matter per se that it isn’t 7x better. What matters is that there is nothing else that would improve your experience more for extra $95 you spent on your keyboard.