* Learning emacs
@ 2003-01-19 8:12 Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 8:23 ` matt
` (3 more replies)
0 siblings, 4 replies; 10+ messages in thread
From: Paul O'Donnell @ 2003-01-19 8:12 UTC (permalink / raw)
Hi All,
I am completely new to emacs, and looking forward to learning how to use
this much praised editor. I am also new to Linux in general. I am a
programmer, currently teaching myself Lisp and want to use a tool like
emacs that I can use for all the languages that I write code in. Coming
from the Windows world emacs is not at all what I am used to. I am not
much of a typist, maybe 45 wpm, as long as I don't have to use Control
and Alt keys, which brings me to my question.
I don't know which fingers to use to press these keys. It seems obvious
to me that the baby finger of the opposite hand should be used for the
Control key, but what about the Alt key? The thumb of the opposite hand
maybe? I don't want to download typing tutorial software. I really don't
have time for that. I just want to know which fingers to use.
I apologize if this seems off topic for this newsgroup, but there
doesn't seem to be a usenet group for touch typing. I figured at least
one of you out there prides himself in his speed when working with emacs
and knows the answer.As it is now, I am having a hard time enjoying this
editor because of its extensive use of these keys.
Thanks.
Paul
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 8:12 Learning emacs Paul O'Donnell
@ 2003-01-19 8:23 ` matt
2003-01-19 9:10 ` Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 9:09 ` Sören Vogel
` (2 subsequent siblings)
3 siblings, 1 reply; 10+ messages in thread
From: matt @ 2003-01-19 8:23 UTC (permalink / raw)
Paul O'Donnell wrote:
>
> I don't know which fingers to use to press these keys. It seems obvious
> to me that the baby finger of the opposite hand should be used for the
> Control key, but what about the Alt key? The thumb of the opposite hand
> maybe? I don't want to download typing tutorial software. I really don't
> have time for that. I just want to know which fingers to use.
I'm fairly new to emacs myself, at least for everyday use. I have found
that using my left "baby" finger for Ctrl works best. For Alt, I use
either thumb, depending upon where on the keyboard the second keystroke
is located. Since the Alt keys are located on either side of the space
bar, it comes pretty naturally.
-- Matt
--
Remove the X's to reply directly.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 8:12 Learning emacs Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 8:23 ` matt
@ 2003-01-19 9:09 ` Sören Vogel
2003-01-20 15:47 ` Lee Sau Dan
2003-01-19 14:37 ` Kai Großjohann
2003-01-20 15:45 ` Lee Sau Dan
3 siblings, 1 reply; 10+ messages in thread
From: Sören Vogel @ 2003-01-19 9:09 UTC (permalink / raw)
Hi Paul,
On Sun, 19 Jan 2003, Paul O'Donnell wrote:
> I don't know which fingers to use to press these keys. It seems obvious
> to me that the baby finger of the opposite hand should be used for the
> Control key, but what about the Alt key? The thumb of the opposite hand
> maybe?
You're right.
> I don't want to download typing tutorial software.
Are there tutorials for typing computer keyboards? AFAIK there's
only material for typewriter.
Sören.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 8:23 ` matt
@ 2003-01-19 9:10 ` Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 19:46 ` A. L. Meyers
` (2 more replies)
0 siblings, 3 replies; 10+ messages in thread
From: Paul O'Donnell @ 2003-01-19 9:10 UTC (permalink / raw)
matt wrote:
> Paul O'Donnell wrote:
>
>>
>> I don't know which fingers to use to press these keys. It seems
>> obvious to me that the baby finger of the opposite hand should be used
>> for the Control key, but what about the Alt key? The thumb of the
>> opposite hand maybe? I don't want to download typing tutorial
>> software. I really don't have time for that. I just want to know which
>> fingers to use.
>
>
> I'm fairly new to emacs myself, at least for everyday use. I have found
> that using my left "baby" finger for Ctrl works best. For Alt, I use
> either thumb, depending upon where on the keyboard the second keystroke
> is located. Since the Alt keys are located on either side of the space
> bar, it comes pretty naturally.
>
> -- Matt
>
I found an interesting link about reconfiguring the keyboard layout.
http://rgrjr.dyndns.org/emacs/keyboard.html
It is an interesting idea, but I am not sure what he means by a "Super-"
shift key. Does it mean Shift+Control or maybe Shift+Alt?
Paul
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 8:12 Learning emacs Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 8:23 ` matt
2003-01-19 9:09 ` Sören Vogel
@ 2003-01-19 14:37 ` Kai Großjohann
2003-01-20 15:45 ` Lee Sau Dan
3 siblings, 0 replies; 10+ messages in thread
From: Kai Großjohann @ 2003-01-19 14:37 UTC (permalink / raw)
Paul O'Donnell <odonnellp@rogers.com> writes:
> I don't know which fingers to use to press [the Alt and Ctrl] keys.
For me, the key to the left of A is a ctrl key. I press that with
the fifth finger of the left hand.
For the alt key (it's known as meta in Emacs), I always use the left
thumb. Now that I think about it it turns out that I very rarely use
the right meta key.
Another thing I do (which reduces the need for meta and ctrl) is to
bind the function keys, in sequences of length two. So for example,
<f2> is the prefix for window-related things, so <f2> <f2> is
other-window, <f2> <f3> is delete-other-windows, <f2> <f4> is
delete-window. Here's how to do it:
(global-set-key (kbd "<f2> <f2>") 'other-window)
I'm sure you can modify this for the other keys.
You could think up a scheme to use then implement it. (I have
reserved <f9> for major modes, for example.)
--
Ambibibentists unite!
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 9:10 ` Paul O'Donnell
@ 2003-01-19 19:46 ` A. L. Meyers
2003-01-19 21:10 ` Jonathon Isaac Swiderski
2003-01-20 15:46 ` Lee Sau Dan
2 siblings, 0 replies; 10+ messages in thread
From: A. L. Meyers @ 2003-01-19 19:46 UTC (permalink / raw)
* Paul O'Donnell <odonnellp@rogers.com>:
> matt wrote:
> > Paul O'Donnell wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> I don't know which fingers to use to press these keys. It seems
> >> obvious to me that the baby finger of the opposite hand should be used
> >> for the Control key, but what about the Alt key? The thumb of the
> >> opposite hand maybe? I don't want to download typing tutorial
> >> software. I really don't have time for that. I just want to know which
> >> fingers to use.
> >
> >
> > I'm fairly new to emacs myself, at least for everyday use. I have found
> > that using my left "baby" finger for Ctrl works best. For Alt, I use
> > either thumb, depending upon where on the keyboard the second keystroke
> > is located. Since the Alt keys are located on either side of the space
> > bar, it comes pretty naturally.
> >
> > -- Matt
> >
>
> I found an interesting link about reconfiguring the keyboard layout.
>
> http://rgrjr.dyndns.org/emacs/keyboard.html
>
> It is an interesting idea, but I am not sure what he means by a "Super-"
> shift key. Does it mean Shift+Control or maybe Shift+Alt?
The "Happy Hacker" keyboard puts the Control key just left of the "A"
key, making it extremely easy to use in a *nix environment. The Escape
key is in the same row as the number keys, just left of the "1" key.
Lucien
--
If you receive this by error, please delete it and inform the sender.
http://www.consult-meyers.com recommends email encryption using GnuPG.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 9:10 ` Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 19:46 ` A. L. Meyers
@ 2003-01-19 21:10 ` Jonathon Isaac Swiderski
2003-01-20 15:46 ` Lee Sau Dan
2 siblings, 0 replies; 10+ messages in thread
From: Jonathon Isaac Swiderski @ 2003-01-19 21:10 UTC (permalink / raw)
On Sun, 19 Jan 2003, Paul O'Donnell wrote:
> It is an interesting idea, but I am not sure what he means by a "Super-"
> shift key. Does it mean Shift+Control or maybe Shift+Alt?
Not exactly. It's a different modifier key, similar to the alt or ctrl.
it doesn't exist on most generic American keyboards.
--
Jonathon Isaac Swiderski \\ dangercat-20@dangercat.net
cs.oberlin.edu/~jswiders \\ www.dangercat.net/resume
Programming (n.): "Bloody instructions which, being taught, return to plague
their inventor ("Macbeth", Act 1, Scene 7)
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 8:12 Learning emacs Paul O'Donnell
` (2 preceding siblings ...)
2003-01-19 14:37 ` Kai Großjohann
@ 2003-01-20 15:45 ` Lee Sau Dan
3 siblings, 0 replies; 10+ messages in thread
From: Lee Sau Dan @ 2003-01-20 15:45 UTC (permalink / raw)
>>>>> "Paul" == Paul O'Donnell <odonnellp@rogers.com> writes:
Paul> Hi All, I am completely new to emacs, and looking forward to
Paul> learning how to use this much praised editor.
The key to learning Emacs: don't be greedy. You cannot learn all of
it at once. (I still don't know many packages even after 10 years of
heavy use.) Learn the packages one by one. Again, don't expect to
know each package from inside out. You just need to know enough of
the package for your daily use.
Paul> I am also new to Linux in general. I am a programmer,
Paul> currently teaching myself Lisp and want to use a tool like
Paul> emacs that I can use for all the languages that I write code
Paul> in.
In that case, have patience with the Emacs on-line tutorial (C-h t).
When you've got comfortable using the features that you've learnt from
the tutorial, leard to use 'dir-ed' -- the file browser. Browser
around your file system. The Linux file system is organized quite
differently from Windows. So, having tours around the file system is
a good way to discover what's in the system. You'll discover a lot of
helpful documents, e.g. in /usr/doc, /usr/share/doc, etc. It varies
with distros. But dir-ed does let you browse around easily.
Paul> Coming from the Windows world emacs is not at all what I am
Paul> used to. I am not much of a typist, maybe 45 wpm,
45wpm is already quite fast. Very often, we normally don't think as
fast. So, unless you're copy-typing, you seldom really reach speeds
over 60wpm. And I bet that no one can do 45 *meaningful* mouse clicks
(shall I multiple this by the 5 keys/word ratio?) in a minute. By
"meaningful", I mean the clicks really do what one wants. This must
thus require _hunting and shooting_ the correct GUI buttons and menus.
Paul> as long as I don't have to use Control and Alt keys, which
Paul> brings me to my question.
I've "solved" this problem for many years.
Paul> I don't know which fingers to use to press these keys.
I don't use fingers for these. I use my palm (not the PDA, but the
body part). Rest your fingers on the home rows. Now, which parts of
your palm are closest to the control and alt keys? I use these parts
to press these keys. Since modern keyboards have them on both sides,
you can press control/alt any-letter with minimal hand movement. (Too
bad that new keyboards pollutes the space-bar row with useless keys,
making the Alt keys more difficult to press correctly in this manner.
So, I prefer AT-101 keyboards to those with "window" and "menu" keys.)
Paul> It seems obvious to me that the baby finger of the opposite
Paul> hand should be used for the Control key,
hehe... I don't need fingers for Control. The part where my little
finger joins my palm is where my hand gets in touch with the control
key!
Paul> but what about the Alt key? The thumb of the opposite hand
Paul> maybe?
This is quite natural. I also do this, although the palm where the
index finger emerges is also possible.
Paul> I don't want to download typing tutorial software. I really
Paul> don't have time for that. I just want to know which fingers
Paul> to use.
At 45wpm (do you mean wpm, where w=5 keystrokes?), I don't think you
really need any typing tutorial software, unless you want to train
yourself to become a real typist or audio-typist. 45wpm is fast
enough.
--
Lee Sau Dan 李守敦(Big5) ~{@nJX6X~}(HZ)
E-mail: danlee@informatik.uni-freiburg.de
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 9:10 ` Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 19:46 ` A. L. Meyers
2003-01-19 21:10 ` Jonathon Isaac Swiderski
@ 2003-01-20 15:46 ` Lee Sau Dan
2 siblings, 0 replies; 10+ messages in thread
From: Lee Sau Dan @ 2003-01-20 15:46 UTC (permalink / raw)
>>>>> "Paul" == Paul O'Donnell <odonnellp@rogers.com> writes:
Paul> I found an interesting link about reconfiguring the keyboard
Paul> layout.
Paul> http://rgrjr.dyndns.org/emacs/keyboard.html
If you're using Emacs under X, you can use 'xmodmap' to remap the
keys, too!
--
Lee Sau Dan 李守敦(Big5) ~{@nJX6X~}(HZ)
E-mail: danlee@informatik.uni-freiburg.de
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
* Re: Learning emacs
2003-01-19 9:09 ` Sören Vogel
@ 2003-01-20 15:47 ` Lee Sau Dan
0 siblings, 0 replies; 10+ messages in thread
From: Lee Sau Dan @ 2003-01-20 15:47 UTC (permalink / raw)
>>>>> "Sören" == Sören Vogel <soeren.vogel@phil.tu-chemnitz.de> writes:
Sören> You're right.
>> I don't want to download typing tutorial software.
Sören> Are there tutorials for typing computer keyboards? AFAIK
Sören> there's only material for typewriter.
And obviously none for Emacians! :(
--
Lee Sau Dan 李守敦(Big5) ~{@nJX6X~}(HZ)
E-mail: danlee@informatik.uni-freiburg.de
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 10+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2003-01-20 15:47 UTC | newest]
Thread overview: 10+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2003-01-19 8:12 Learning emacs Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 8:23 ` matt
2003-01-19 9:10 ` Paul O'Donnell
2003-01-19 19:46 ` A. L. Meyers
2003-01-19 21:10 ` Jonathon Isaac Swiderski
2003-01-20 15:46 ` Lee Sau Dan
2003-01-19 9:09 ` Sören Vogel
2003-01-20 15:47 ` Lee Sau Dan
2003-01-19 14:37 ` Kai Großjohann
2003-01-20 15:45 ` Lee Sau Dan
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox;
as well as URLs for read-only IMAP folder(s) and NNTP newsgroup(s).