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From: Xah Lee on 7 Mar 2010 17:24
For those of you emacs users on Windows, if you wish to swap Control
and Alt key, or make the Caps Lock key to be Control, i wrote some
Windows utilitiy that does it painlessly.

http://xahlee.org/mswin/autohotkey_swap_capslock.html

Just download and run the executable. You disable it easily too by
pulling a menu.

Xah
∑ http://xahlee.org/

☄
From: Xah Lee on 8 Mar 2010 09:53
Thanks for the link, i almost forgot about that one.

though, i created my own mostly for the Ctrl Alt swap, which i haven't
found a easy to use utility.

personally, i think making Caps Lock as Ctrl is not the best option
for full sized keyboards. See
reasons here for those interested:

• Why You Should Not Swap Caps Lock With Control
http://xahlee.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html

Xah
∑ http://xahlee.org/

☄
On Mar 7, 5:06 pm, Thad Floryan <t...(a)thadlabs.com> wrote:
> On 3/7/2010 2:24 PM, Xah Lee wrote:
>
> > For those of you emacs users on Windows, if you wish to swap Control
> > and Alt key, or make the Caps Lock key to be Control, i wrote some
> > Windows utilitiy that does it painlessly.
>
> >  http://xahlee.org/mswin/autohotkey_swap_capslock.html
>
> > Just download and run the executable. You disable it easily too by
> > pulling a menu.
>
> You may be interested to know the following free program works on
> every version of Windows (including Vista and Win7):
>
> Writeup:
>
> <http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897578.aspx>
>
> Download:
>
> <http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/Ctrl2Cap.zip> [47KB]

From: Thad Floryan on 8 Mar 2010 13:52
On 3/8/2010 6:53 AM, Xah Lee wrote:
> Thanks for the link, i almost forgot about that one.
>
> though, i created my own mostly for the Ctrl Alt swap, which i haven't
> found a easy to use utility.
>
> personally, i think making Caps Lock as Ctrl is not the best option
> for full sized keyboards. See
> reasons here for those interested:
>
> • Why You Should Not Swap Caps Lock With Control
> http://xahlee.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html
> [...]

It's really a preference. A person with small hands may have problems
if the [Caps Lock] is made to be a [Ctrl], but they will have even a
worse problem (and real pain) continuing to use the [Ctrl] key at the
lower left of the keyboard.

Every keyboard I've used since the mid-1960s (TTY ASR 33 on up) has had
the [Ctrl] key to the left of the [A], either explicitly as a [Ctrl]
key or by having the [Caps Lock] key reassigned.

I've been using Emacs since the mid-1970s and, thus, am a heavy user
of the [Ctrl] key and I have no hand injuries because I have always
done what it now known as ergonomics. I use a keyboard 12-16 hours a
day and can outtype professional typists.

The keyboard I presently use is a Unicomp:

<http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/en104bl.html>

<http://thadlabs.com/PIX/Thad_desk.jpg>

A similar keyboard is:

<http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/customizer.html>

and you can see their UNIX/Linux keyboards here with the [Ctrl] to
the left of the [A] key:

<http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/linux101.html>

where the "Windows" key is removed and the positions of the
[Esc] and [~] are exchanged.
From: Paul Donnelly on 9 Mar 2010 03:44
Thad Floryan <thad(a)thadlabs.com> writes:

> On 3/8/2010 6:53 AM, Xah Lee wrote:
>> Thanks for the link, i almost forgot about that one.
>>
>> though, i created my own mostly for the Ctrl Alt swap, which i haven't
>> found a easy to use utility.
>>
>> personally, i think making Caps Lock as Ctrl is not the best option
>> for full sized keyboards. See
>> reasons here for those interested:
>>
>> • Why You Should Not Swap Caps Lock With Control
>> http://xahlee.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html
>> [...]
>
> It's really a preference. A person with small hands may have problems
> if the [Caps Lock] is made to be a [Ctrl], but they will have even a
> worse problem (and real pain) continuing to use the [Ctrl] key at the
> lower left of the keyboard.

Somebody ought to invent a keyboard with a control key for each hand.
From: Xah Lee on 9 Mar 2010 10:10
On Mar 8, 10:52 am, Thad Floryan <t...(a)thadlabs.com> wrote:
> On 3/8/2010 6:53 AM, Xah Lee wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the link, i almost forgot about that one.
>
> > though, i created my own mostly for the Ctrl Alt swap, which i haven't
> > found a easy to use utility.
>
> > personally, i think making Caps Lock as Ctrl is not the best option
> > for full sized keyboards. See
> >  reasons here for those interested:
>
> > • Why You Should Not Swap Caps Lock With Control
> >  http://xahlee.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html
> > [...]
>
> It's really a preference. A person with small hands may have problems
> if the [Caps Lock] is made to be a [Ctrl], but they will have even a
> worse problem (and real pain) continuing to use the [Ctrl] key at the
> lower left of the keyboard.

yeah much of it is preference, but i think few scientific principle
can still be applied to arrived at a better habit with respect to
efficiency of keyboard use and ergonomic of keyboard design. Here's a
few points i think are important.

• Do you touch type? Anyone programer who do not touch type yet,
should consider learning it now. Touch typing is quite significant
improvement in your keyboard use efficiency and hand health, much more
so than the position of Ctrl key at corner vs Caps Locks position.

• Do you use a full-sized keyboard? Typing 8 hours a day on a laptop
keyboard is very unhealthy. The laptop keyboard's size and key design
and placement are severely restrained by the laptop size, weight, etc.
If you type a lot, consider getting a full sized keyboard for your
laptop.

• Here's a point that's a bit more controversial: Do you use a
ergonomic keyboard? That is, the keys are curved, or split into 2
sections with a gap in the middle, each section for each of your hand.
(Microsoft keyboards are the most popular of this) Arguably, it is a
matter preference. However, to some degree it is a preference, but if
you do prolonged typing, the ergonomic keyboard are scientifically
better.

I've been touch typing since 1991, and touch typing on Dvorak since
1993, started to use emacs, and daily, since 1998. I never liked the
Microsoft ergonomic keyboards or any split ones. And have strong
opinions, or several reasons, against using it. I have my own habits
of keeping my hand healthy, and never had any problem. Until, in
2004-2005 i was typing on laptop daily for about a year, and my hands
started to have some funny feelings. This is when i decided to use a
full keyboard to be plugged in to my laptop, and in the process, i
decided to buy the Microsoft ergonomic keyboard. I forced myself to
get used to it. Forced in physically adopting the keyboard, as well as
any issues with shortcuts in emacs (i.e. remap keys if necessary). I
can honestly say, that ever since i adopted the ergonomic keyboard,
when i type on a straight keyboard, even just few minutes i find my
hand uncomfortable.

i think the above are some important points for those who type many
hours a day and is concerned about hand health and efficiency. In
summary: touch type, use full keyboard, use ergonomic keyboard. Other
more important issues is of course: take at least 10 min break every 2
hours, don't type yourself to death.

these points doesn't have much to do with position of Control key, but
in the context of argument about better position of Ctrl key, they are
much more important ones.

Xah
∑ http://xahlee.org/

☄
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