Re: Control-C conundrum

[Jude DaShiell <jdashiel@panix.com>]

Not every computer user has two hands.  Some of them were born with one 
or both missing.  Still others did a little work for certain Governments 
and had one or two hands blown off.

On Sat, 6 Jun 2015, Bob Proulx wrote:

> 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
>
>

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