It is a keyboard layout that i've been using for the past 9 months. I think it is a good layout for me. what about you?
Does anyone here use Dvorak?
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Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#2I use it for over 14 years.
Because I was showing signs of carpal tunnel pain.
I use it using a Split keyboard,
Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#3How hard was the mental brain remapping/muscle memory remapping?
Much of my work history involved lots of travel and working on sites and it wouldn't have been realistic to try and adopt it. It was tough enough working on French keyboards. AZERTY?
I did visit a client in Chicago once and sat down at the guys desk to find a Dvorak keyboard on a solaris desktop. After 2 minutes of finger picking and eye scanning i kind of picked it up.
I also largely typed on US QWERTY keyboards for a couple of years as thats what we had at Sun, to the point when i went back to GB layouts i just have a switch that when i type SHIFT-3 i take note of whether i get a # or a £ and my brain seems to auto remap on the spot
Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#4How hard was the mental brain remapping/muscle memory remapping? Much of my work history involved lots of travel and working on sites and it wouldn't have been realistic to try and adopt it. It was tough enough working on French keyboards. AZERTY? I did visit a client in Chicago once and sat down at the guys desk to find a Dvorak keyboard on a solaris desktop. After 2 minutes of finger picking and eye scanning i kind…
I found it easier to learn ten-finger touch typing with a whole new layout, than to unlearn years of terrible habits with QWERTY. Took about a week to easily exceed my QWERTY speed.
As far as I can tell, it has not affected my speed with QWERTY at all. Using QWERTY is slightly frustrating as I'm about half as fast as with Dvorak, but I still do the same old annoying 30 - 40 wpm with my four-finger peck technique that I couldn't unlearn.
It does take a few seconds sometimes to adjust when I switch layouts, but I can hop between them pretty easily. The two never really interfere with each other. With Ctrl-C etc., I seem to associate that with a letter, not a physical movement, and it maps too. (Video games are a different question. I usually end up remapping everything.)
Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#5I've been using it since 2016 and I love it. I guess you could say I'm deep in the rabbit hole of Dvorak.
I can switch between Dvorak and QWERTY in just seconds.
I can spot when someone else is a Dvorak typist based on their typos: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29407601
I have a custom Dvorak layout for any ortholinear keyboard with at least 36 keys: https://github.com/1MachineElf/qmk_firmware/tree/_sb4dv/keyb...
Sometimes I go on odd rants about how common shortcuts can be easier to use in Dvorak in combination with a left-handed mouse: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26796214
So how did you go about learning it? My pathway was GNU Typist: https://www.gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/gtypist/gtypist.h...
What made you want to learn it? For me, the Dymaxion map in this XKCD cartoon appealed to me because I liked XML and shoes with toes (like Vibrams): https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/977:_Map_Projecti...
Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#6While Dvorak is a good layout, in 2021 I would always advocate using Colemak instead (at least for English typists). Colemak is:
- easier to transition from QWERTY since it changes fewer keys (particularly the QAZXCVB shortcut keys)
- scores marginally better than Dvorak in different models, e.g. http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/carpalx/?colemak
That said, if you're already this deep into Dvorak, I don't think the gains are worth the effort involved in another switch.
Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#7I lerned to touch type using Dvorak in 2001. I’m useless at Qwerty! If it’s the only way you can realistically learn to touch type, stick with it. Absolutely no RSI - but I might just be lucky. I don’t have Emacs pinky either… :)
Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#8The Hell No. Because it is for Ænglish, which is spelled wrongly and illogically.
In most (perhaps all) languages, assuming they are spelled phonetically, a syllable-based organization would be best. In most (perhaps all) languages syllables are mostly consonant-wovels-sequences.
So the bestest keyboard would be: consonant on the left and vowels on the right. The vertical organization would be: most common syllables are on the same horizontal line and the mostest common on the top (or center?) line, but those details depend of course on the particular language.
Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#9Yep, started in ‘96 or ‘97. There are layouts that might be marginally better, but Dvorak hits a sweet spot by being ubiquitous and extremely good.
Re: Does anyone here use Dvorak?
#10The Hell No. Because it is for Ænglish, which is spelled wrongly and illogically. In most (perhaps all) languages, assuming they are spelled phonetically, a syllable-based organization would be best. In most (perhaps all) languages syllables are mostly consonant-wovels-sequences. So the bestest keyboard would be: consonant on the left and vowels on the right. The vertical organization would be: most common syllables…
On that note: Most common letters and syllables form a logical tree structure. If you are multi-lingual, it might even make sense to switch the layout with the language. And even more, it might even be that the keyboard learns from you and organizes layout accordingly. And next step is of course that the keyboard organizes itself all the time as you write, instead of giving suggestions on the screen. But nothing to do with Ænglish, as mentioned.