Whoever made this didn't seem to program much in vi or emacs.

- you need as modifier for esc. - control is shoved in the corner. - return is too small - no easy arrows

I'm sure I could get used to other issues like needing a modifier for function keys, but those three are a real deal breaker.

If you are going to do a hackers keyboard, make it so you don't need shift for the parens, brackets, or other commonly used symbols when coding or at a shell prompt.

(My emacs setup makes heavy use of function keys including modifiers with them so that might actually be a deal breaker too. Having to be a world class pianist to compile doesn't sound like a step up.)

Edit: i hate hn formatting so very much