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The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

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Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#71

Post by catchnear4321 »

bombcar wrote: post #21
coldpie wrote: post #17

I 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?

Keyboard enthusiasts can never get carpal tunnel because they spend too much time switching keyboards to actually type .

switching? upgrading. reaching for the endgame, realizing the mistakes, reaching again.

art demands sacrifice. if you want to use that artisan keycap, impale your finger on it.

pain is weakness leaving the body. listen to the beautiful clacks it makes.

(it can get a little TKLraiser, if you will.)

Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#72

Post by tom_ »

manaskarekar wrote: post #31
coldpie wrote: post #17

I 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?

There is the world of ergo and/or split keyboards, which is quite fascinating, but rather expensive to `try one that best fits me`. (Ergodox EZ, Kineses advantage, OLKB splits and many more) There is also the Alice layout, which is an interesting step towards ergonomics on a traditional keyboard. I wish there was a keyboard club or something that let you try these out for a week or so.

Time for my regular rant. I've posted this in various forms over the years, with various introductions and tweaks to the wording, but the key part is always essentially the same::

> Every split keyboard with nice keyswitches has a different layout from every other, and most of them miss one or more of F keys, symmetrical meta keys, standard navigation cluster layout, volume buttons, and so on. Quite extraordinary, considering how much this type of device relies on muscle memory to work. It's like their designers want the device to be less useful, not more!

> Particularly annoying when there's such a wide range of non-split keyboards with nice keyswitches. You've got all the bizarre layouts you can eat, but you still get the option of a more standard one too.

> I wish people would just copy the MS Natural Ergonomic 4000, but with better keyswitches.

Anyway, must be 10 years since the first time I noticed what I can only describe as This Fucking Shit, and here I am still using my MS Natural 4000.

(Probably about time for my biennial keyboard hunt though. Maybe this time I'll get lucky?)

Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#73

Post by z0r »

coldpie wrote: post #17

I 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?

I got a Unicomp model M with a trackball at the top right corner of the case and rubber dome keycaps (so I can use it at the office without annoying all my neighbors) and it's currently the longest running keyboard I've comfortably been able to use, for more than 7 years now. I had to use a gold touch 'tented' split keyboard for half a year when I was dealing with some sport induced wrist and hand issues, but otherwise a full sized keyboard hasn't cause me to develop any injury. I do appreciate that when I use the trackball my right hand cups the corner of the case and my wrist remains in a vertical position - that does feel kind of ergonomic. I have a left handed vertical mouse on my desk from around the same time I had to use the gold touch and it's a nice backup.

I did have keyboard related wrist issues in the past but it was mostly from truly bad keyboards - e.g. spent a couple of years using an Apple 'magic' keyboard. I have no interest in using a tiny reduced layout input device.

Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#74

Post by moondev »

jeppesen-io wrote: post #2

First 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

The new framework keyboard is QMK so it shouldn't be a problem

Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#76

Post by thanhhaimai »

coldpie wrote: post #17

I 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?

I used to be a keyboard enthusiasts. I spent a lot of money on various keyboard. Then I got the Kinesis Advantage, and it completely changed me. I have now been typing on the same keyboard for 5+ years. And I probably haven't changed my layout in the last 4 years. It just works so well that I no longer see a need to "find something better".

I think it might be a result of selection bias when you see more "keyboard enthusiasts" with non ergonomic keyboard. When they find their fit with the right ergonomic keyboard/layout, they might not be that active with looking anymore.

Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#77

Post by jrexilius »

colanderman wrote: post #42
coldpie wrote: post #17

I 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?

The rectangle layout is only bad if you are a home-row typist. The problem with home-row typing is that your wrists are bent. It's possible to learn to type without bending your wrists. I am self-taught and have typed this way for three decades with no wrist issues due to keyboard use. My fingers rest naturally on "QWERF" and "JIOP". I actually cannot type on "ergo" keyboards due to the angles being wrong, and not be…

I'm in the same boat as you. Tried ergo keyboard once and it was really awkward for me.

Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#78

Post by Daneel_ »

seabrookmx wrote: post #52
grozmovoi wrote: post #5

I like this layout. I'm used to the F keys tho...

75% (84 key) is definitely your friend then. It's similar to a lot of laptop layouts as well, so if you find yourself often switching between a laptop and desktop it feels quite natural. I use a budget Keycool 84 (MX browns) and love it.

The Vortex Race3 is amazing too, plus it can be reprogrammed without a computer.

Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#79

Post by dbalatero »

folmar wrote: post #69
madphilosopher wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can remap the key combination "jk" to ESC in order to switch effortlessly from editing mode to normal mode. inoremap jk ("jk" doesn't normally appear in English and is easy to type)

but in other languages you might be doomed $ aspell --lang=pl dump master | cut -d / -f 1 | fgrep jk | wc -l 981

kj, jj, kk are common options as well.

Re: The unix69 keyboard layout: nerdy and nice

#80

Post by doix »

sswezey wrote: post #65
quicklime wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also suffer from rheumatism, and I spent years (and many hundreds of dollars) trying out split keyboards before finding out that my problems had nothing to do with wrist positions. I'm now typing comfortably on a rectangular chiclet (Apple Magic) keyboard.

I tried some mechanical keyboards back in the day for the "benefits". I never got it and my hands would be strained from typing on the high travel, high resistance keys. The Apple Keyboard (I use the UK/English International) is so much easier on my hands. They're easy to find, well-supported and robust.

You are not meant to bottom out on mechanical switches, you press them until the switch actuates and then stop pressing. The advantage is that if you keep pressing a little bit after it actuates, you don't hit a hard wall. The travel distance is not that much and different switches have different resistance.

Unlike the chiclet keys, where they trigger at the bottom, so you are always bottoming out and pushing against a "wall".

Everyone has different problems though. I have no problems from hurting my fingers when typing, or carpel tunnel. But I do have messed up shoulders, and having them internally rotated all day is my biggest issue.

The biggest relief for me was a fully split keyboard so that I can have my shoulders neutral rather than rotated. Other people have no problems with their shoulders.

Most of these ergonomic things do help _someone_, I wouldn't claim that they don't work just because they don't help you.

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