
Ask HN: Did you remap the Kinesis Advantage2 keyboard? - akor
I just recently picked up the Kinesis Advantage2 and was surprised at the placement of the arrow and {} keys.  I searched already and it looks like some have remapped [] &amp; {} so that shift doesn&#x27;t need to be used for {}.  And some vim users remapped caps lock to esc.  Just curious what worked for other people before I get too far along with regard to muscle memory.  Right now I&#x27;m leaning toward sticking with the QWERTY layout but only because I can&#x27;t be unproductive for forever.
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SamReidHughes
Yes. Some of my remappings have to do with my use of Dvorak, for which certain
choices of the Kinesis Advantage's punctuation keys didn't make sense. Other
remappings would make sense for anybody. Let's start by pretending I use
QWERTY.

The first remapping is to make Ctrl and Alt modifier keys more accessible. I
put Back Space on Caps Lock and hit it with my pinky. Then Ctrl goes on the
Back Space key, Alt on the Delete key. Delete goes on left Ctrl.

The second remapping is to swap Home with Page Up and End with Page Down. The
reason for this is, if you want to scroll down a web page with your keyboard,
you can hit Space or hit Page Down. This lets you do that with either hand.

The third remapping is to swap right Ctrl with the Windows key. The Windows
key is useful in Linux for some keyboard shortcuts, and this makes it more
reachable.

The fourth remapping is in software, with xmodmap (or whatever) because it
doesn't swap entire keys. It's to switch parentheses with square brackets. So
now you press Shift+9 to insert '['. The reason here is that typing ") {" is
so common in C++, and moving from the top to the sub-bottom row of the
keyboard is really hard. Making parentheses the primary function of a key is
also useful in general. The remapping is in software because at least on the
1st generation Kinesis, using the remap functionality to map something to
Shift+9 was glitchy.

Because I'm a Dvorak user there's a few other remappings of punctuation. You'd
want to put [{ and ]} back on their labeled keys at the bottom, and then you'd
want to put /? back to the right of P and the best location for =+ is to the
right of 0. Then `~ goes left of 1. The bottom left backslash key remains
backslash. The bottom left `~ key goes unused.

I don't think this is a good opportunity for you to switch keyboard layouts.
The muscle memory will map over after a brief adjustment period.

I just plugged in this Advantage into the Mac I'm writing this post on to
double-check what my mappings were -- I'm used to using it on Linux. If you're
on a Mac I'd recommend putting Delete on the left Alt key (instead left Ctrl
as described above) and finding whatever way suits you to make left Ctrl
behave as the option key.

~~~
akor
Thanks Sam this is the sort of feedback I was thinking of when I posted the
original question. Do you find the switch (to Dvorak) was worth it in the end?
Were there any surprising issues?

~~~
SamReidHughes
I can't remember much about the switch -- I switched when I was a freshman in
college (13 years ago) and the main reason for doing so was to be l33t. It was
difficult for one homework assignment but I got myself acclimated to it by
playing a video game that required rapid text-based communication with
teammates. I'd been trying to switch and had practiced the layout in high
school.

The main issue with it is that if you're typing one handed, Qwerty is actually
better. Because of the iPhone and iPad, I'm used to using Qwerty on a touch
screen, which means I need both layouts enabled when using a Windows tablet.

Sometimes annoyances come up, like Ubuntu's installer having you type your
disk encryption passphrase before configuring the keyboard layout. You don't
realize what happened until you've booted into your new system, and now you've
got to figure out how to type on a Dvorak layout your passphrase that you'd
defined using Dvorak on a Qwerty layout.

Another annoyance is every single freaking time you have to setup the layout.

An underacknowledged advantage of Dvorak is that underscore is on the home
row.

I could switch back to Qwerty any time I wanted (I'm typing with it right now
just to make a point of it) so I guess that means I believe Dvorak is worth
the minor annoyances.

------
thomastjeffery
> Right now I'm leaning toward sticking with the QWERTY layout but only
> because I can't be unproductive for forever.

As opposed to what?

If you don't have strong QWERTY muscle memory using this keyboard yet, it may
be a great opportunity to learn something else.

Really, any thoughtfully designed layout will do. Dvorak, Colemak, Norman,
Workman, _anything_. Typing well with QWERTY means constantly contorting your
hands, which I assume is something you would like to avoid.

~~~
akor
I don't have QWERTY muscle memory with _this_ keyboard but I do have muscle
memory. I guess I was thinking individual keys being remapped. I've never
given any serious thought to switching to Dvorak / Colemak etc maybe I should.
I agree now would be better than later but I concerned about being productive
at work. What is best from an ergonomics standpoint?

~~~
thomastjeffery
> What is best from an ergonomics standpoint?

That's hard to say. I use Workman, because the focus on digraphs really meshed
with me, and I like the feel of it.

It definitely took a solid effort to learn another layout, especially since I
spent the time choosing a favorite. I feel like it's absolutely worth it,
though.

> but I'm concerned about being productive at work.

I'm honestly not sure what to say to that, considering you _will_ be _very_
slow at the beginning. You may be able to keep using QWERTY at work, and
practice a new layout in your free time, though.

~~~
akor
Thanks Thomas. I really appreciate hearing your experience. I looked up
Colemak / Dvorak last night and it seemed from the articles / discussion I
found like it was a mixed bag [1][2]. I think you've inspired me to at least
dip my toes in so we'll see how it goes. As far as productivity I guess it is
what it is but I've been struggling with Carpal Tunnel for a bit so was
already at reduced productivity and now with the keyboard switch and possibly
completely layout change it will be reduced even further. I think at least
initially I'll do QWERTY layout and as you suggest do an hour or so a day of
some other layout. Again thanks for your input.

~~~
thomastjeffery
> I really appreciate hearing your experience.

You're very welcome.

As a last note, I would like to mention that I am not any faster (maybe a bit
if I focus on speed) with Workman than I was using QWERTY. I _am_ , however,
_much_ more comfortable. I don't have to contort my hands at all (except to
accommodate the popular staggered physical layout, which your new keyboard
explicitly fixes).

So far, thankfully, I don't have any carpel tunnel, so I don't really know
what that is like, but I can imagine a better layout helping about as much as
a better keyboard.

> I think at least initially I'll do QWERTY layout and as you suggest do an
> hour or so a day of some other layout.

Good luck! I hope things go well for you.

