From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: don provan Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: Arrowless navigation Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:23:49 -0700 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1158943235 24657 80.91.229.2 (22 Sep 2006 16:40:35 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:40:35 +0000 (UTC) Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Fri Sep 22 18:40:33 2006 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by ciao.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1GQo4d-0006Uf-OB for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Fri, 22 Sep 2006 18:40:24 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1GQo4d-0005ZM-4J for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Fri, 22 Sep 2006 12:40:23 -0400 Original-Path: shelby.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!postnews.google.com!news3.google.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!local01.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.comcast.com!news.comcast.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:23:46 -0500 Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help User-Agent: Gnus/5.1006 (Gnus v5.10.6) Emacs/21.3 (windows-nt) Cancel-Lock: sha1:TLTGsJL/Hjlr14SGFfZevFIPRM4= Original-Lines: 51 Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.5.238.65 Original-X-Trace: sv3-TS4PiW1tLE0lkmzLiUo7lnYFkDirXhGGKx09aCVOwdgVphkPau3DZkF/8doLkbI9ajvnxxvZuUTWKiM!6+R7dzNZMeVgHUemguVhZlwhSC8aeYO9usaxON4tyCAxO0KJ6AbrhrUhbqPbMQ== Original-X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-DMCA-Complaints-To: dmca@comcast.net X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.32 Original-Xref: shelby.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:141946 Original-To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org 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:37567 Archived-At: "Vyacheslav Akhmechet" writes: > I recently disabled the arrow keys to avoid temptation. However, I > find that default navigation is fairly uncomfortable: C-f, C-b, C-n, > C-p. The keys are far away from each other and navigating like that is > really stressful on the fingers. Why is this done this way? The keys are chosen to be mnemonic. > Do most people redefine these bindings? Initially I wanted to redefine > to C-j, C-k, C-l and C-i (because they resemble the arrow keys and are > close to the home row) but some of the most common emacs bindings are > there. So how do the pros navigate? Well, I modestly consider myself a pro. I use the original bindings, and I suspect most people do. The main exceptions are those people hooked on the arrow keys, but most pro's prefer to keep their hands at the home position rather than shift back and forth to the keypad. As a learner, I think you're focused on the movement commands so much that you are forgetting that they are only four of hundreds of commands that are bound to various key sequences on multiple layers under your finger tips. As you learn the other key sequences, you'll find that the mnemonic help in remembering the less used commands and the vertical relation between control and meta is much more important than any initial desire to cluster the four movement keys in some central location. As you get used to it, you won't think any more of their distribution than you think about the distribution of the characters is "distribution" as you type it. And the control key may seem a little awkward at first, but, with practice, it turns out to be no more troublesome to use than the shift key to get capital letters. You just add the movement commands (and all the other commands) to your typing skills in the same way you learn to type words and punctuation marks. Just for the record, I always use my left pinky for control and my left thumb for Meta (actually Alt on the PC keyboards I use exclusively), although the odd thing about it is that it's so automatic, I don't notice this anymore: I probably wouldn't have realized I used my thumb for Meta if some other poster hadn't mentioned it. Anyway, the bottom line is that I encourage you to try and learn the original bindings. By the time you're comfortable with enough commands to be using the entire keyboard, I suspect you'll have forgotten what you thought the problem was with ^f, ^b, ^n, and ^p. On the other hand, if you start rebinding the basic movement commands, you'll most likely spend the rest of your life rebinding all the other commands, too. -don provan