Re: How to type when using Emacs?

[harven <harven@free.fr>]

Hi,

I am typing on a laptop keyboard. Switching the control and
caps lock key really was a big relief for me.

Another spot that some people consider is right to the side
of the space bar. This is however the standard position for
the meta key on many keyboards, and a perfect position for it.

I use now the meta key as much as I use the control key.
I think that this will be the case for you as soon as your
emacs skills improve. These two modifiers are really meant
to work together e.g. to reach some point on the line, first
jump over words with M-f then move into the word with
C-f. The combination of the two modifiers also gives
you access to powerful commands -- try for example
C-M-f or C-M-k in front of a parenthesis group.
A well-balanced use of the meta and control
modifiers makes for faster editing and halves the use
of the control key.

Finally, if you want to learn touch-typing, you may want
to have a look to the dvorak layout. See eg
http://dvzine.org/   for more information on this layout.
 You don't need any special keyboard, since
the goal is to type without looking at the keys.
I followed the abcd lesson from
http://www.gigliwood.com/abcd/abcd.html
45 mn a day, became able to touch-type
with this layout in three weeks, and reached a decent speed
of 50 wpm in three months. I should say that I tried many
times to learn to touch-type with the standard qwerty layout,
without success.