Editor Ergonomics [was: Important features for editors]

[Skip Montanaro]

> The fact that rms has crippling RSI should indicate that
> emacs' ergonomics is not right.

Kind of a small sample size, don't you think? Hopefully we can kill
this meme that Emacs is somehow worse for your wrists than other text
editors before it goes any further than your one unsupported
assertion.

I've been using one form or another of Emacs as a programmer/software
engineer for over 30 years.  While I have had problems with RSI from
time-to-time, there have generally been other factors at play other
than just use of a text editor.  I have learned how to manage it and
recognize the warning signs that indicate the onset of an episode.

More likely, rms ignored the problem and had bad personal ergomonics:
ignorance or lack of understanding of the problem, poor posture,
wrists not in a neutral position, lack of breaks, etc.  If you stop to
think about it, all text editors probably present similar issues for
their users.  They all involve:

* a lot of typing,
* use of modifier keys (ctrl, alt, command, etc)
* movement between the mouse and the keyboard

Skip