
Here is why Emacs uses Meta key - janvdberg
http://www.catonmat.net/blog/why-emacs-uses-meta-key/
======
azaras
The worst key, in modern keyboards, when using Emacs is CTRL key.

In the Lisp Keyboard we can see that CTRL key can be press with the thumb.

The bottom corner position in modern keyboards is painful for the pinky
finger.

For years I switch CTRL key and TAB key, whereas this is better, you still
overuse pinky finger.

Nowadays I use palm to press CTRL (I found this trick here:
[http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html](http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html)).
I stick a pad on CTRL buttons to improve the trick.

~~~
zzalpha
This is _not_ intended to start any kind of flamewar or editor battle, but to
be honest, my switch to Vim (and obviously I could've picked any editor, Vim
was just the next on my list) was ultimately motivated by RSI concerns. The
constant chording with Emacs led to shooting pains in my left hand that fairly
rapidly resolved after I switched editors.

Fundamentally, IMO, Emacs just has poor ergonomics. Single chorded key
sequences are one thing... other editors and IDEs, including Vim, frequently
rely on single chorded commands or a single chorded command followed by a
sequence of single characters.

But having to enter multiple chorded keys in a sequence to complete a command
greatly exacerbates RSI issues when using Emacs heavily, as the meta key has
to be held for a much longer period of time.

Fortunately, there are options like evil and viper that give you the best of
both worlds (though I've never made that transition).

------
AstralStorm
And new keyboards have Hyper key back in the guide of Windows key. Or Option
in Mac world. Only Super is missing.

