Usability for touch typers: Keeping fingers on F and J

[Thomas Güttler]

Am 21.11.2014 um 05:45 schrieb Chow Loong Jin:
> On Thu, Nov 20, 2014 at 02:34:11PM +0100, Thomas Güttler wrote:
>> Am 19.11.2014 um 10:07 schrieb Chow Loong Jin:
>>>
>>> I'm happily touch-typing on a QWERTY keyboard (Thinkpad X230 user here) at
>>> 120WPM. I don't really have much of a problem hitting backspace or return/enter.
>>> I'm also an Emacs user, and the only thing that really bothered me was the
>>> location of the Ctrl key, which my CapsLock key has become. For backspace and
>>> return, I usually flick my wrist clockwise and back. Pinky goes on the Enter
>>> key, and fourth finger goes on the Backspace key. It doesn't seem to affect my
>>> wrist too much when I do that.
>>>
>>> I get RSI pains occasionally, but they stopped being much of a problem after I
>>> found this useful video[1] on stretching your muscles when they ache. I believe
>>> that in my case at least, the RSI pains are just muscle fatigue in the same way
>>> your calves burn after a strenuous run.
>>>
>>>> What could the current situation be improved?
>>>
>>> Nothing that wouldn't break the collective muscle memories of Ubuntu users
>>> unfortunately. Remapping the backspace and enter keys aren't really an option if
>>> you want to keep things usable for end-users.
>>>
>>
>> Usability is on my mind. That's why don't want to use alternative keyboard layouts like neo or colemak.
>>
>> I want an extension, not a replacement.
>>
>> Creating a new layer with the CapsLock key could be an solution.
>
> Which would then break things for the CapsLock as Control people.

I don't know the percentage of ubuntu users who have modified the CapsLock mapping. What's your guess?