Ergoemacs Keybindings
code.google.com
code.google.com
Other stuff seems borderline insane. Like this design principle:
cursor moving commands are placed all for the right hand, while text changing commands are all placed for the left hand. (similar to Dvorak having all vowels in one side)
Dvorak does that because vowels are usually typed alone in a word, so the natural typing pattern is an alternation between hands, minimizing the chance that a single finger might have to type two keys in succession, or a hand might be left in a poor position for the new key. That's completely wrong for this situation! A motion key is likely to be followed by more motion, while if you're modifying text, you're likely to continue modifying text.
Or this one:
Alt is considered better than Ctrl. (Alt is a natural thumb curl, Ctrl is stretched pinky.
This might be true on some keyboards. It certainly isn't on typical laptops, where Alt almost never lives in a consistent position across hardware. Relying on keys without fixed positions is just bizarre, and in direct contradiction to "ergonomics" to my mind. What's worse, this completely ignores the pervasive practice among emacs users of mapping Ctrl to CapsLock, a key which is extremely easy to type and in the same location on all keyboards.
On the whole, I just can't see these bindings actually helping me that much, sorry. It's a good try, and I'm sure the author gets good use out of them. But to my fingers, they introduce as many problems as they solve.
I think he uses emacs as if it were MS Word or Notepad, and customizes his emacs accordingly. That's fine for him, but there is value in the generally-accepted defaults to other people. Control is not hard to type on a good keyboard. C-n, C-p, C-b, and C-f are "unconventional", but very easy to type and get used to. I must hit each combination hundreds of times a day, and my fingers never hurt. (Because of that, anyway; the only time my fingers hurt is when I have to type a lot of keys on the right pinky, ()+|`~=;':"?/ on my keyboard. I have not found a good solution to this problem yet, but it is certainly not specific to emacs.)
You could do something similar without using dvorak of course.
Link to layout: http://www.kaufmann.no/roland/dvorak/
Some of the criticism is valid, like the lack of C-Shift-[a-z] bindings, and the continued use of weird archaic stuff on easy-to-type bindings. Which is fine. Certainly every serious user is going to have their own tastes and preferred bindings {+}. But trying to generalize from a few nits to say that "Emacs Keyboard Shortcuts are Painful" is very much making a mountain out of a molehill.
{+} For myself, I like M-i for overwrite-mode, so I don't have to get to the Insert key, and M-g for goto-line, which is an xemacs binding I got used to years ago).
Why then is it relegated to only pushing the space bar? Is there some stigma that it is that ham-handed and awkward? I would rejoice if I could do more things with my thumbs, particularly modifiers, instead of making awkward pinky reaches. The pinky really shouldn't be asked to do so much work.
Sadly, there is so much momentum behind the QWERTY keyboard that it won't be going away any time soon, and alternate keyboards and layouts are limited to enthusiasts, and the transition is awkward at that.
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productde...
Assuming you can rebind the back/forward thumb buttons to ctrl/alt, I think it would be a great emacs keyboard.
I've been using emacs for close to 20 years. I've had more hand pain from too much mouse use than I have with emacs' traditional shortcuts -- assuming the control key is remapped to the caps lock location next to the "A" key.
Windows users, use SmartKeys[1] to redefine CAPS LOCK to Left Control.
I makes the frequent use of the control combinations a lot more bearable.
------------
I don't use emacs anymore, but still find that C-x, C-c, C-v, and C-anything is easier with this setup.
But I don't think this will be be any use for anyone who has gotten used to the layout of emacs already... I know I wouldn't. Once those shortcuts are hardwired to your brain, there is no going back. Plus if the shortcut ends up being really too painful, most everyone would just adjust it in their .emacs.
But this is something I will definitely suggest any newcomers to emacs.
Tried it?
It's easier than you think.
A fun experiment: Take two keys and switch them, like s and a. See how long it takes to adjust. In my experience, under an hour.
I was inspired to do this by Aikido, where one of the techniques is a pressure-point application using the bones on the inside of your hand to apply specific pressure while holding someone's wrist in a grip.