Caps Lock can be a useful feature. e.g. developers may want to type CONSTANTS_LIKE_THIS; and it's useful to be able to have a "shifted mode" which avoids the need for either alternating shift keys, or holding shift key with a pinky finger.
I saw a feature "Caps Word", which automatically returns to the unshifted state as soon as a non-letter key (like space) was pressed. That seems a good idea.
That said, yeah, Caps Lock isn't so useful that it's worth putting where it is on typical keyboards.
Two-shift caps lock is a feature whereby tapping both shift keys, simultaneously, toggles caps lock.
You don't need the caps lock key, and its place on the home row is absurd.
I do think "replace caps lock with ctrl" isn't the best, though. -- Especially if you've got a mind for staying on home row, then I'd instead suggest putting the modifiers Shift/Ctrl/Gui/Alt as tap-hold keys underneath the home row keys.
Being a Windows user I have an AHK script I run on every PC I work on regularly. It remaps Caps Lock into a special modifier key but does so in a conditionally timed way which keeps Caps Lock working as it normally does as an on/off toggle - but only when pressed and released by itself. If I use Caps Lock like a modifier key by holding it down and hitting another key simultaneously then Caps Lock works like a modifier - which I use to remap other home row keys like arrows etc.
This works transparently while giving me another very useful modifier key right on the home row without giving anything up. It's especially useful on laptops where I don't have extra modifier keys like my custom desktop keyboards but I now use it everywhere. Here's the relevant chunk of AHK script:
CapsLock::
KeyWait, CapsLock ; wait for Capslock to be released
KeyWait, CapsLock, D T0.2 ; and pressed again within 0.2 seconds
if ErrorLevel
return
else
if (A_PriorKey = "CapsLock")
SetCapsLockState, % GetKeyState("CapsLock","T") ? "Off" : "On"
return
*CapsLock::
return
#If, GetKeyState("CapsLock", "P") ;Your CapsLock hotkeys go below
i::Send {Up}
j::Send {Left}
k::Send {Down}
l::Send {Right}
m::Send {End}
u::Send {Home}
y::Send {PgUp}
n::Send {PgDn}
h::Send {BS}
`;::Send {Delete}
-::Send {–} ; Alt+Minus = En dash
=::Send {—} ; Shift+Alt+Minus = Em dash
a::^a
Space::Enter
q::PrintScreen
r::F5
s::Browser_Back
d::Browser_Forward
Capslock & LButton::WindowMouseDragMove()
Capslock & RButton::WindowMouseDragResize()Though, with using fancy keyboard-remapping software, then "dashes as underscores" can be done automatically. e.g. QMK does it with: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_caps_word
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Ca...
(Though I use emacs with vim keybindings — evil mode — so I do the same as you)
My wrist barely moves for that action, and I haven't had RSI yet after 20 years. I do play the guitar though so maybe that gives me some extra dexterity?
Though because some keyboards have key rollover issues with using both Shifts, [Capslock][<modekey>] is also allowed as an alternative activation shortcut.
BUT HOW CAN I ARGUE ON THE INTERNET WITHOUT IT????????
Caps Lock is a necessary feature.
I need my ÉÈÀÇ and I never could get a compose key working in all inputs, Caps Lock is the only reasonable alternative.
It's a strict superset of QWERTY, and it enables entering e.g. è and È with altgr+e and shift+altgr+e respectively.
The Danish keyboard layout has ¨, ^, ´ and ` on dead keys — those are used in foreign names and a few loanwords — but Æ, Ø, Å are real keys.
Having Å, Ø and Æ as dead keys would make as much sense as having V, K and J as dead keys in English.
Æ, Ø, Å aren't dead keys, they're available via AltGr + Z, L, and W respectively. However, Italian and French accented letters (as well as Swedish/German Ä/Ö) are available via either AltGr or dead keys - and I find myself almost always using dead keys, perhaps because they are more "logical" so I learned them faster.
And of course, typing any kind of quote is a dead key in every language (quote followed by spacebar).
By now, after so many years, dead keys are well in muscle memory so they feel barely any slower to type than regular two-key combos (like uppercase letters).