Dusty

Dusty

An Introduction to Alternative Keyboard Layouts

Thanks to @AstonJ for encouraging me to post this here:

An introduction to alternative keyboard layouts

Feel free to post your own experiences or ask questions. I consider my current layout to be stable, in the sense that I haven’t made significant changes for a couple years, and I am very happy with it.

Most Liked

NobbZ

NobbZ

I tried neo a couple of times, though one of the major problems with it is, that I still have to deal with other peoples computers or my Windows machine at the office.

Not even speaking about the fact, that keyboards are labeled for QWERTZ anyway…

Switching back and forth, beeing confused by keycaps that did not fit what was happening on screen when currently on Neo have been my major painpoints.

Today I have a keyboard where I could swap the keycaps, though again, now this PC is also used by my son for his schoolworks, and they even do a touch typing course next year! I do not want to confuse him with alternative layouts yet.

Perhaps if the Optimus were still available… Anyone knows an alternative?

Dusty

Dusty

The issue with using other people’s machines is very occupation-dependent. For some people, it is a constant issue, and for others it almost never comes up. Over the years, I have run into it far less than I anticipated. If you have access to a USB port on those machines, it’s much easier, given that you can just carry a QMK board or a converter like a Hasu controller. Having said that, carrying a board is obviously only easy for those that prefer 60% or less in the first place. No one is overly keen to carry a full-size around. If you don’t have access to a USB port, then I think PKL is probably the best option (via your email or cloud storage). My general attitude is that if I’m not going to be on the machine long enough to warrant downloading PKL, it probably doesn’t matter if it has my layout in the first place. For such brief interactions, looking at the keys is not a big sacrifice.

When I’m on my own board, I try very hard to make sure that the keys are not labeled in a way that tempts me to look at them. I prefer blanks or unrelated symbols (I went with the Hiragana for the Planck). But actually I find that QWERTY (or QWERTZ) is nearly as good. The key is just not to have the keys remotely resemble the actual layout, so that there is no temptation to rely upon them, and instead just consult the layout in my head.

The corollary to that is that it’s much easier to remember your own custom layout. When you put a lot of effort into making decisons about every key, it really sticks with you—it becomes an extension of you, a physical manifestation of all the quirks of your personality. The keys are exactly where you would guess you’d put them.

The keycap mismatch issue is another reason that I’m a fan of small boards. A lot of touch typists don’t touch type all keystrokes. They touch type keys that are easily within reach, but then reference the keyboard when they need far away symbols, numbers, Fkeys. On a small board, there is no temptation or need to do that, because there simply aren’t any distant keys that require a hand movement. So I think going small tends to promote true touch typing (without any “cheat glances,” so to speak).

AstonJ

AstonJ

Anyone know if there any keyboard layouts designed specifically for ortholinear keyboards?

When I get a new keyboard I am thinking about trying the https://workmanlayout.org since it was designed for programmers :smiley: (your article has been a huge help @dusty!)

I’m very worried about muscle-memory of qwerty tho - feels like I’ve be using it for forever…

Where Next?

Popular General Dev topics Top

PragmaticBookshelf
Going from engineer to manager doesn’t have to be intimidating. Engineers can be managers, and fantastic ones at that. Cast aside the rhe...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Computer security is a complex issue. But you don’t have to be an expert in all the esoteric details to prevent many common attacks. Atta...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
You have too many projects, and firefighting and multitasking are keeping you from finishing any of them. You need to manage your project...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Vim is a fast and efficient text editor that will make you a faster and more efficient developer. In more than 120 Vim tips, you’ll quick...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Jack the Ripper and legacy codebases have more in common than you’d think. With its unique blend of forensic psychology and code analysis...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Pragmatic programmers use feedback to drive their development and personal processes. The most valuable feedback you can get while coding...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Project retrospectives help teams examine what went right and what went wrong on a project. But traditionally, retrospectives (also known...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Few of the ideas presented here are controversial or extreme; most experienced programmers will agree that this stuff works. Yet 50 to 70...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Imagine you’re using the world’s most sophisticated word processor: it has every function imaginable, except one. For some reason, they f...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Learn how experienced Scrum masters balance the demands of servant leadership, while removing organizational impediments and helping Scru...
New

Other popular topics Top

AstonJ
If it’s a mechanical keyboard, which switches do you have? Would you recommend it? Why? What will your next keyboard be? Pics always w...
New
malloryerik
Any thoughts on Svelte? Svelte is a radical new approach to building user interfaces. Whereas traditional frameworks like React and Vue...
New
New
AstonJ
We have a thread about the keyboards we have, but what about nice keyboards we come across that we want? If you have seen any that look n...
New
DevotionGeo
The V Programming Language Simple language for building maintainable programs V is already mentioned couple of times in the forum, but I...
New
AstonJ
If you get Can't find emacs in your PATH when trying to install Doom Emacs on your Mac you… just… need to install Emacs first! :lol: bre...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Build efficient applications that exploit the unique benefits of a pure functional language, learning from an engineer who uses Haskell t...
New
First poster: joeb
The File System Access API with Origin Private File System. WebKit supports new API that makes it possible for web apps to create, open,...
New
hilfordjames
There appears to have been an update that has changed the terminology for what has previously been known as the Taskbar Overflow - this h...
New
CommunityNews
A Brief Review of the Minisforum V3 AMD Tablet. Update: I have created an awesome-minisforum-v3 GitHub repository to list information fo...
New