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Comment by bluGill | Hacker News Reader

The problem with that - the same problem layouts like Dvorak have but worse - is that I sometimes have to use other computers. Any custom layout will be great for me - once I put forth the effort to learn it of course, but since it will only be for me nobody else can use my computer (This computer I'm using now I don't care as only I touch it). However I have computers that others in my family also use, computers at work where sometimes I share a keyboard. All of that becomes impossible and that negative is greater than any potential benefit.

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It's my own experience, and it anecdotally seemed to be shared with other people who have modified their main keyboard:

The regular qwerty/qwertz keyboards are so ingrained in our muscle memory and society (think touchscreen keyboards) that they still work as backups and you do not "forget" how to efficiently use regular keyboards. I guess it does depend on how often you're swapping around.

I started with Dvorak young - about the same time I was learning "proper" typing (as opposed to hunt and peck). I wasn't good enough at QWERTY to go back and so I eventually had to give up. Besides, all the studies of typing I've seen are not compelling - most don't try to control for that fact the alternative layout users are likely to study typing and thus be better than average.

I type in Dvorak and 'using other computers' is not a real concern: you retain qwerty typing skills even if you use Dvorak.

It's like foreign languages: you don't forget English when you learn French.

I've used Dvorak essentially full-time for the last 20 years and I can still type in QWERTY. In fact, I just switched to QWERTY just now to type this and it feels a bit awkward and I make some typos, but it's perfectly usable.

The hardest part of switching is punctuation and shortcut keys, not the letters themselves. But I can use other people's computers and usually most people don't know that anything's odd.

Also on your phone/tablet.

I use dvorak so the first thing I have to do when I get a new phone is to install an alternative keyboard.

Wouldn't a small script that lets you toggle between a QWERTY layout and a custom layout solve this problem?

Only if it's someone using your machine, rather than you using another's machine and re-adjusting to querty.

My top menu bar has a toggle to switch layouts, so anyone can use my machine. I can also still type QWERTY, so I can use any other machine. These are non-problems.

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