From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Xah Lee Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: How to get rid of *GNU Emacs* buffer on start-up? Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:40:18 -0700 (PDT) Organization: http://groups.google.com Message-ID: References: <873ajzwoqu.fsf@kobe.laptop> <823901dd-c54c-4e3b-b6ad-512d52724a46@z11g2000prl.googlegroups.com> <87ljxoffs6.fsf@atthis.clsnet.nl> <2868c8db-ff02-4d67-9e80-4cf323086ca3@l33g2000pri.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1222083764 7773 80.91.229.12 (22 Sep 2008 11:42:44 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:42:44 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Mon Sep 22 13:43:40 2008 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1KhjpM-0005Es-3H for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:43:40 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:53950 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1KhjoK-0000TO-FQ for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:42:36 -0400 Original-Path: news.stanford.edu!headwall.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!postnews.google.com!a19g2000pra.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help Original-Lines: 236 Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.6.185.159 Original-X-Trace: posting.google.com 1222083619 10717 127.0.0.1 (22 Sep 2008 11:40:19 GMT) Original-X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:40:19 +0000 (UTC) Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: a19g2000pra.googlegroups.com; posting-host=24.6.185.159; posting-account=qPxGtQkAAADb6PWdLGiWVucht1ZDR6fn User-Agent: G2/1.0 X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X 10_4_11; en) AppleWebKit/525.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.2 Safari/525.22, gzip(gfe), gzip(gfe) Original-Xref: news.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:162547 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:57889 Archived-At: Hi Erik Fragga, On the subject of RSI, perhaps you should use Dvorak, and you'd be interested in my article here: How To Avoid The Emacs Pinky Problem http://xahlee.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html Text version follows: ------------------------------------- How To Avoid The Emacs Pinky Problem Xah Lee, 2006 Emacs makes frequent use of the control key. On a conventional keyboard, the Control Key is at the lower left corner of the keyboard, usually not very large and is pressed by the pinky finger. For those who use emacs all day, this will result in repetitive strain injury=E2=86= =97. This page lists some tips on avoiding this pinky problem. I've been using computer since 1991, at least 8 hours a day on average every singe day. I was a QWERTY touch-typist with 80 wpm and worked as a secretary for about 2 years, then in ~1994 i switched to Dvorak. I started to use emacs everyday since 1998. I am a keyboard and key macro nerd, and have used tens of keyboard macro or keymap type of utilities on the Mac, unixes, and Windows, always looking for the most ergonomic and efficient way to operate the keyboard and computer. This page summarize my experiences applied to emacs. The best way to avoid the pinky problem is actually to use a good keyboard. Let us start with some tips on choosing a good keyboard. Tips For Selecting A Computer Keyboard Here are some keyboard hardware advices: =E2=80=A2 Buy a keyboard such that the Alt and Control keys are large. =E2=80=A2 Buy a keyboard where Alt and Control are also available on the ri= ght side. =E2=80=A2 The Alt and Control key's positions on the left and right sides should have the same distance to your left and right thumbs (while your hands are rested in standard touch-type position). Specifically: the distance from the left Alt to the F key should be the same as the right Alt to the J key. BAD Apple keyboard above: The Apple keyboard as of 2006. Note the ridiculous distance of the right side's modifier keys. It is not possible, to use the right thumb to press the alt key while the index finger remains on the J. Many keyboards don't have full set of modifier keys on the right side, and when they do, they are positioned far to the right, making them not much usable for touch typing. For example, the keyboards made by Apple Computer, their right-side Command/Alt/Ctrl keys are inferior citizens. They are placed far more to the right, making the right set of modifier keys difficult or impossible to reach with the thumb. It makes these keys essentially decorative in nature. (Apple did this to make the keys flush at the lower right corner; sacrificing function for esthetics.). GOOD Microsoft Natural Multimedia keyboard above: The Microsoft Natural Multimedia keyboard. Note, the keys are split and oriented for each hand. And, the Ctrl, Alt are very large and symmetrically positioned with respect to each hand's thumb. (See A Review of Microsoft Natural Keyboards) For more extensive commentary on various computer keyboards and design, see: Computer keyboards Gallery. How To Press The Control Key Use Your Palm or Semi-Fist Do not use your pinky to press the Control key. For most PC keyboards, it is very easy to press the control key using your palm. Just open your hand somewhat and push down with the meat at the chopping edge of your hand. Alternatively, you can roll your wrist a bit, curl in your fingers into a semi-fist, then sit your fist on the control key. Use Both Hands Do not use a just one hand to type a Control+=E2=80=B9key=E2=80=BA combo. Use one hand to press Control, use the other hand to press the combination key. This is the same principle for pressing the Shift key in touch-typing. When the key you want to press is on the left side of the keyboard, use the right side of Control key. For example, to press =E2=80=9CCtrl+a=E2= =80=9D, hold down the right Control with your right palm edge, and use your left hand to press =E2=80=9Ca=E2=80=9D. Make this into a habit. Using a sin= gle hand to press =E2=80=9CCtrl+=E2=80=B9key=E2=80=BA=E2=80=9D combo usually means your= hand needs to cram into a particular shape, thus putting stress on it when done repeatedly. This is also why choosing a keyboard with Control keys positioned on both sides of the keyboard symmetrically, is important. Software Ways To Avoid the Pinky Problem A good keyboard and good typing habit is good. But suppose you are stuck with a lousy keyboard or your notebook computer. A notebook computer usually don't have control key on both sides of the keyboard. Its control key is very small, and it cannot be pressed by palm. Here are some suggestions for this situation. Swap Control and Alt Try swapping the Control and Alt keys. Emacs's are developed for Lisp Machine's keyboards of the 1980s, which have the Control key near the space bar, and the Meta key further away from the space bar. So, Control key is the primary modifier key. However, today's keyboards have Alt instead of Meta, and the Control key is placed at the far corner instead. Emacs did not change its shortcuts. It simply mapped the Meta to Alt. That is why today, most frequently used keyboard shortcuts have the more difficult to press Control key instead of the Alt. For more detail on this and other aspects of emacs's shortcuts, see: Why Emacs's Keyboard Shortcuts Are Painful. By switching the Alt and Control key, will make Emacs's keyboard shortcuts much easier to use as it was designed. The other advantage of swapping Alt and Control, is that on Windows and Linuxes, most direct shortcuts involve the Ctrl key. By swapping, Windows shortcuts are made easier since now Control is right under your thumb. On the Mac, shortcuts are made with the Cmd key. If you swap Control with Cmd, the primary modifier Cmd will be at the corner, thus make it more difficult to use all other applications. The best thing to do on the Mac is to swap Control and Cmd only in Emacs. I do not know if it is possible to swap Ctrl and Alt within emacs. For system-wide swap of modifier keys on OS X, see: How to Swap Modifier Keys on OS X. Swap Cap Lock and Control Another commonly suggested solution is to remap the the Cap Lock and Control key by swapping them. This is not a optimal solution, because the Control key is still pressed by the pinky, and somewhat displaces your hand on home position. Also, there is now only one Control key, making the left pinky doing double work. (modifier keys comes in pairs for good reasons. Try pick out a Shift key and type for a week) However, if you are stuck on a lousy keyboard such as laptops, and unable to swap Ctrl and Alt, then making the Cap Lock key as Control might be a practical solution. For detail, see: Why You Should Not Swap Cap Lock With Control. It is not possible to swap cap locks and control key within emacs, because the cap-lock key signal is not received by applications. However, you can do it with several system utilities. In unix-like systems, this is done with xmodmap. See Emacs wiki: moving the Ctrl key=E2=86=97. Use a Ergonomic Shortcut Layout If you are adventurous, the best solution is to use a ergonomically designed shortcut layout for emacs. See: A Ergonomic Keyboard Shortcut Layout For Emacs. Dvorak Keyboard Layout Perhaps a more important ergonomic improvement one can make is by using the Dvorak keyboard layout. dvorak keyboard layout I've been using Dvorak keyboard since 1994. It works beautifully with emacs. It makes typing more comfortable. (i use emacs since 1997). If you use unix/X11, you can switch to dvorak by running dvorakKeymap.txt. On Mac OS X, use =E2=80=9CSystem Preference: Internationa= l=E2=80=9D. On Windows XP, go to =E2=80=9CControl Panel:Regional and Language Options= =E2=80=9D. For more info about Dvorak layout, see Wikipedia: Dvorak Simplified Keyboard=E2=86=97. A web comics introducing Dvorak: http://www.dvzine.org/zine/index.html A video game: The Typing of the Dead=E2=86=97. Xah =E2=88=91 http://xahlee.org/ =E2=98=84 On Sep 22, 1:25 am, Eric S Fraga wrote: > On 2008-09-20,XahLee wrote: > > > On Sep 19, 8:32 am, Eric S Fraga wrote: > >> On 2008-09-19,XahLee wrote: > >> > [...] > >> > than graphical user interface or using a mouse. This seems ridiculou= s > >> > today, but such voices are commonly seen all over newsgroups. (Since > > >> the reasons still stand and they are not ridiculous. > > > In argument, you can't just say something is ridiculous. You have to > > give reasons. > > Excuse me? *You* said the reasons were ridiculous, not me. The > reasons are there, as you implied. Let me give you a couple: > > 1. RSI: I cannot use a mouse without pain. > 2. speed: I type 60+ wpm, which is not particularly fast but results > in faster output than using the mouse, especially if the GUI is badly > designed (which applies to most graphical apps in my experience). > > Others will have their own reasons and calling them ridiculous is > potentially insulting. If you prefer a graphical interface, fine. I > do not. > > > Perhaps you think something is obvious. But in arguments, others might > > think the opposite is obvious. That's why good argument needs explicit > > reasons. > > I agree; you said reasons had been given for text based interfaces. > You then said these were ridiculous and then failed to give any > reasons why. Maybe you should start listening to your own advice? > Just a friendly suggestion. > > -- > Eric S Fraga, UCL > GP Key: FFFCF67D F'prnt: 8F5C 279D 3907 E14A 5C29 570D C891 93D8 FFFC F6= 7D > BF >++++++++++[>++++++++++>+++++++++++[<]>-]>++.>++++.<-----.++++++.-----= -.