Vim Foot Pedal

> Besides, everyone knows what Ctrl is the One True Key™ in place of the Caps Lock and that only degenerate infidels map it to anything else.

Haha yeah I've heard about that and I like the joke =) But I was never interested in adopting it. Because I configure my alt keys to act as ctrl keys which imo results in a much more ergonomic setup.

Ctrl is the most pressed control key for people like me who live in the terminal. But the default placement of the ctrl keys in modern layouts is so wrong. I have never understood it. I guess there has to be a historical reason but I've yet to find out. (Help me, greybeards)

I should't have to move my hand and strain my pinky to reach out the most pressed control keys. With alt it's so much easier. I don't have to move my hands nor use my pinkies. My thumbs already rest on the spacebar and I just have to make a little thumb movement.

Swapping ctrl with caps lock is an ok remedy but alt keys are in a much better place.

So ctrl goes where alt is by default.

But do I swap ctrl with alt? No!! Alt is a frequently used key as well so the default ctrl keys aren't a good fit for alt either. Instead I set the keys immediately adjacent to the default alt keys to act as alt. It's the Super key (sometimes referred as the "Windows" key) on the left side and the context menu key on the right.

Lastly, I set the default left ctrl key to act as Super and the right ctrl key to act as context. Because I virtually never use those.

(I think Apple got this mostly right. cmd is the most used control key for the average Apple user, and opt is next. Their placements are perfect. Though it's still problematic for developers as ctrl is again at the worst place possible. Because of that, what I do in Macs is swapping ctrl with cmd while leaving opt where they are.)

If I'm an infidel for doing this so be it. But with this setup, I'm extremely efficient one. I type and code and enter & exit from repls and jump between interfaces like a damn machine, impressing mostly everybody who watch me use my computer.

Ergonomics FTW

You're not alone, it is one of the easiest keys to hit since it lies all by its own in a corner with no danger of hitting any other keys when whacking it with whatever finger - or combination thereof - is at hand. To be honest I had to guffaw a bit at the rationalisation for using a foot pedal:

The basic concept was to use a pedal to enable switching between normal and insert modes. In Vim’s predecessor, vi, switching modes was easy, with the ESC key located neatly by the Q on the keyboard of the ADM-3A terminal. On modern keyboards, though, it’s a pain, and so a foot pedal is a desirable solution.

So let me get this straight... it is easier to blindly grope for a foot pedal somewhere under a desk than it is to hit that very visible, very close-at-hand key on the keyboard with whatever appendage happens to be closest? Of course it isn't, this is just rationalisation for making that foot pedal - as if any reason is needed to indulge in such projects other than 'because I (want to find out if I) can'.

I’d recommend Power Toys for that. AHK is cool but better for scripts and automations. Power Toys has lots of other neat functions and support by MS.

See my reply to the other comment.

I think resourcing foot pedals from the music world (guitars and bass mostly) would be the way to go, they're designed for heavy use and would likely be much more durable.