

Surviving Emacs - silentbicycle
http://bc.tech.coop/blog/060131.html

======
pohl
Interesting article. The thing that stood out the most, though, is that the
author is so focused on solving the RSI problem through changing his tools
(hardware & software) that I could not find any mention of the single most
effective change one can make: an intelligent incorporation of strategic
stretching in one's daily routine.

In my case, certain muscles were so tight that my wrists would curl inward
while I slept. To solve this, I slept while wearing a cheap pair of wrist-
braces that I got at the local pharmacy. During the month or two that I did
this, I also performed a half-dozen different stretches specific to the
muscles involved.

Sharon J. Butler's book "Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: And other
Repetitive Strain Injuries" saved me. It is from this book that I pulled the
stretches that I did. It is also this book that taught me proper stretching
technique and what sensations to pay attention to while doing it.

After I learned these basic things, I discovered that my regular keyboard was
just fine, and my addiction to emacs was just fine. I was afraid I would have
to give up programming and playing the piano. Now all is right with the world.

Interesting aside: I did learn dvorak before I discovered the power of
stretching, and I swear it helped a lot. YMMV.

~~~
silentbicycle
Indeed. Typing timers like xwrits (<http://www.lcdf.org/xwrits/>) and workrave
(<http://www.workrave.org/welcome/>) help, but the thing that's most directly
helped me is a series of wrist stretches I learned while studying Aikido (a
martial art that involves a lot of wrist joint locks). The names differ from
school to school, but searching for "aikido wrist stretches" on youtube etc.
should be good enough.

(I use Dvorak, too. I think it helps, but the chorded keys in Emacs are
probably the bigger issue.)

~~~
pohl
Interesting. I did find such a video on youtube, and the stretches appear to
be similar to the ones I encountered in Butler's book.

The one video that I sampled, though, was entirely focused on the wrists. One
interesting thing about the way muscular tension is networked throughout the
body is that when one muscular group is compromised, another will compensate.
This ultimately can cause a network of failures, so stretching all of the
upper body, at the very least, is important in properly solving the RSI
problem.

I'm sure an ancient art like Aikido addresses the whole body properly, but I
thought it worth mentioning.

~~~
mapleoin
Aikido is actually less than a hundred years old :)

~~~
pohl
Yeah, when I typed 'ancient' I thought someone would mention that. Can I be
saved by assuming that it descended from older forms? ;-)

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visitor4rmindia
Ok - I know I may be downmodded for this but wouldn't it just make more sense
to switch to an editor that maybe __doesn't __cause you RSI problems?

All I'm saying is that if you have to go through so much pain and trouble to
use a piece of software then just maybe it's not right for you.

Also I'm not suggesting Vi but Emacs has a pretty good Viper-mode that may
help with RSI issues. I use EMacs with Viper and I can pretty much work with
minor hiccups when I switch from Vim. Just a suggestion.

~~~
silentbicycle
Yes, it would. People aren't persisting in using Emacs because it's a good
editor, but rather because it's an integrated environment for manipulating
anything textual (which happens to be scripted in a Lisp dialect). The
integration is the important part, and it's integrated in a very different
sense than, say, Visual Studio or Eclipse. It just happens to have
ergonomically nightmarish default keybindings (and other historical baggage),
and a culture that perpetuates them.

I've tried viper mode (I used vim for five years before I started using Emacs,
and I still use nvi for quick editing sometimes), but it's against the current
of the ten million other settings Emacs has.

I would love to see a real alternative to that facet of Emacs (and would work
on one, if I ever got that kind of time...), but vim isn't it. Wily / Acme are
closer, perhaps, but they trade complex keybindings for switching constantly
between the mouse and keyboard, which is likely worse.

~~~
visitor4rmindia
I think you're missing the point. I'm not denying that EMacs is great at what
it does (I use it extensively).

However, _if I had RSI problems I would switch to something else_ \- it's
definitely worth learning a new tool if it helps my health and well being.

------
cwinters
I've had a kinesis keyboard for ~9 years, and after using it for a few weeks I
thought it should be required for any emacs user. Putting ctrl-alt (and enter)
under your strongest digits just makes so much sense.

~~~
eru
You should try out the foot pedals.

------
swannodette
Being an owner of a Kinesis as well, I can attest it's one of the best $300
I've spent on anything related to my programming profession.

~~~
tc
I'm convinced that most people would be well served to care more about the
keyboard they use.

While I've yet to try a Kinesis keyboard, I can attest that TypeMatrix
(<http://typematrix.com/>) keyboards are superb (~ $120). Once you try one,
you immediately realize how utterly backwards staggered keys are in the modern
world.

------
ddorenz
HI, You were very lucky to catch the RSI tendency in time.I am a massage
therapist who has worked with many RSI "victims." Just to warn others: there
is another problem-thoracic outlet syndrome that programmers and others get
from too many hours at the computer. If you want to avoid this negative
development and RSI, get up every 30 minutes from your computer and get your
arms over your head; do the back stroke; bend over and let your head and arms
hang down. The nerves get trapped in the chest muscles as they travel down
from your neck to your arms and hands. Make sure you stretch your pectorals
often: open arms out to sides. LIsten to your pain messages and don't push
through pain because you might become disabled. take care.

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travisjeffery
I agree, do some exercises and stretches and you'll be fine. Also map some of
functions you use often to better places. I myself think M-x is an annoying
combination so I made it to C-x C-m and find it much more comfortable.

Also to the guy who asked why not use Vim or another editor because it's more
comfortable? Come on, it the same reasons all over again. Extensibility is
probably the biggest reason. I also can't stand Vim Script (or trying to use
Python/Ruby/whatever to script Vim.) And in some cases the Emacs community
writes the kind of stuff I like more, modes with really good syntax
highlighting and indentation and such.

I find Vim's indentation especially lacking compared to Emacs.

------
parbo
I work as a developer of embedded systems for automotive purposes, and I have
got to ask: what fields of programming are you working in where you actually
write code for prolonged periods of time? I would say that less than 20% of my
time go to actual programming, and probably less than half of that involves
typing a lot. More thinking.

