Ergonomics (was Re: Question mark in variable and function names

[Cliff Wells]

On Wed, 2004-10-13 at 10:02 -0300, Carlos Ribeiro wrote:

> 3) design a new block of keys, similar to the (Insert/Delete,
> Home/End, PgUp/PgDn) block, with quick punctuation symbols --
> parenthesis, brackets, square brackets, angle brackets, slashes
> (forward and back), hyphen+underline, and similar pairings. A vertical
> block of keys, with two columns, five rows -- it's enough for most
> pairings without a shift key.
> 
> _If_ I was to design my own keyboard, I would probably keep it Qwerty
> (already used to it, and also, changing it makes difficult to use
> anything else); but I would probably implement option (3) for
> frequently used symbols.

That's not a bad idea.  A screwdriver, a spare keyboard from which to
steal keys, and xmodmap would let you replace the numeric keypad with
the punctuation characters.  You could still have your numbers, just
replace the cursor functions (numlock off) with the punctuation codes
(assuming the cursor codes on the numeric keypad differ from the codes
on the regular arrow keys?  Have to check on that.).  

Still, I think that since it requires that your hands leave the home row
that not much would be gained.  I can shift+key faster than I can move
my right hand to the arrow keys or the numeric keypad.

A former coworker of mine had an interesting ergonomic keyboard that had
a foot pedal for accessing extra keys.  This might be a superior
solution for many people (disabilities or chronic foot-tapping
notwithstanding).

Regards,
Cliff

-- 
Cliff Wells <clifford.wells at comcast.net>