Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
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Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
1–10 of 78 posts
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#2Similar thing. To avoid my fingers fighting each other when pressing cut copy paste in Macbook, I almost bought those 20-key left hand gaming keyboard so that I can do them in a single keystroke.
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#3[deleted]
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#4You can remap keys on any keyboard layout, no need to get a Japanese keyboard.
Many years ago, I was working in a German lab and their keyboard layout is really impractical for programming in C-like languages because all commonly used symbols are really awkward to type. I wasn't well-versed in XFree86 then (or today for that matter) but I remember I could solve the problem by simply changing they map that Emacs uses to map keyboard keys to input events. In other words, I was still using a German keyboard but when I typed "blindly", it behaved like a US keyboard. I even had some keys to behave context-sensitively, i.e., the same key stroke would produce different symbols depending on where the cursor was positioned in a buffer. That was actually tremendously useful.
So, if you wanted some other key to give you and underscore without having to hold down Shift (which I don't get why this is a problem in the first place, it's not like we don't have auto-complete in our IDEs), there's multiple ways you could achieve it.
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#5You can remap keys on any keyboard layout, no need to get a Japanese keyboard. Many years ago, I was working in a German lab and their keyboard layout is really impractical for programming in C-like languages because all commonly used symbols are really awkward to type. I wasn't well-versed in XFree86 then (or today for that matter) but I remember I could solve the problem by simply changing they map that Emacs uses…
Especially on keyboards with blank keycaps. :)
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#6The downsides aren't unique to Japanese keyboards. On Danish keyboard " requires the use of the shift key, same for = and the \ in on the 7 keys, along with /, requiring you to hit option + shift + 7 (on a mac keyboard, I believe it's Alt + shift + The Japanese keyboard in the article does have { printed on a key, it's Option + Shift + 8 and the Danish Mac keyboard, and the key isn't labels with {, } is on the 9.
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#7You can remap keys on any keyboard layout, no need to get a Japanese keyboard. Many years ago, I was working in a German lab and their keyboard layout is really impractical for programming in C-like languages because all commonly used symbols are really awkward to type. I wasn't well-versed in XFree86 then (or today for that matter) but I remember I could solve the problem by simply changing they map that Emacs uses…
Especially on keyboards with blank keycaps. :)
It wasn't one of those, but yeah. It wasn't an Optimus keyboard either, unfortunately ;-)
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#8You can remap keys on any keyboard layout, no need to get a Japanese keyboard. Many years ago, I was working in a German lab and their keyboard layout is really impractical for programming in C-like languages because all commonly used symbols are really awkward to type. I wasn't well-versed in XFree86 then (or today for that matter) but I remember I could solve the problem by simply changing they map that Emacs uses…
This is the main reason why I just use the US ANSI layout in germany, together with KbdKaz on Windows for umlauts and a lot of other extra characters and accennts: https://www.omega-com.pl/kbdkaz.htm
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#9The downsides aren't unique to Japanese keyboards. On Danish keyboard " requires the use of the shift key, same for = and the \ in on the 7 keys, along with /, requiring you to hit option + shift + 7 (on a mac keyboard, I believe it's Alt + shift + The Japanese keyboard in the article does have { printed on a key, it's Option + Shift + 8 and the Danish Mac keyboard, and the key isn't labels with {, } is on the 9.
As a decade long Emacs user, I can not follow: what's the problem with modifier keys?!
Just kidding, I know that some people have a hard time typing them, especially when your day job consists of doing exactly that for eight hours.
Re: Underscores are stupid? Get a Japanese keyboard (2012)
#10How fun - I have no recollection of that discussion from 12 years ago, but somehow I just found out that I commented on that thread back then:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3976669#3981000
(Don't click, it's not worth reading. Pretty much like this comment, too, sorry.)