Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2015 13:45:58
From: Bob Proulx <bob@proulx.com>
To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
Subject: Re: Control-C conundrum
Jonathan Groll wrote:
No matter what keyboard you use, I've always thought that the idea is
to always use BOTH the left and right 'modifier' keys. So, what I am
saying is that should you want to type say 'C-p' then the left hand
presses the left control key and the right hand presses the P key. For
'C-c' the right hand presses the right control key and the left hand
presses the C key. The fingers of one hand shouldn't be 'scrunched
up', and both hands should work in concert.
Of course, if you swap control with caps-lock then there isn't a
caps-lock key on the right hand side of the keyboard, so I'm not sure
what folks do in that situation.
Having typed for years on keyboards prior to the IBM PC keyboard with
the multiple control keys I could only use the left pinky for the
control key. The vt100 doesn't have a control key on the right side
for example but only one on the left. Therefore my habits were
already set by the time a right control key became available. These
days I mostly use the right control for the Compose key.
I type relatively fast but have acquired some less than perfect habits
over the years. C-b is the example for me. The 'b' key is a left
pointing finger key. However with the left pinky on the control,
especially on the older keyboards where control was left further
outside of the capslock, that was quite a stretch! I got into the
habit of using left pinky for control and right pointing finger for
the 'b' key. That works great. Until you are on a split ergonomic
keyboard. On those with C-b my right finger usually taps into a solid
plastic spot with no key! That is my biggest worst bad habit for
typing that always shows up on a split ergo keyboard. :-/
All habits can be learned and unlearned with practice. I am
completely bilingual with regards to switching between emacs and vi
for example. But I never picked up the Dvorak key layout. I never
picked up using the right control or alt/meta. Some habits are deeper
and harder than others.
I'm a happy Kinesis Advantage keyboard user, and that keyboard
promotes the above described usage of both sides of the keyboard. I'm
not sure how well the Advantage will work out with a thumb injury
though as you do use your thumbs quite a bit with it. Kinesis sell a
three pedal foot switch that works with their keyboards.
I have friends who use that keyboard and also seem happy with it. Two
of them use it in Dvorak key layout mode for double the benefit.
Since I am using my trusty classic ThinkPad keyboard a lot I think it
would be a hard thing for me to learn. And it is an expensive
keyboard.
Bob