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Ask HN: Dvorak or Dvorak-Qwerty? Shortcuts not useful anymore?

by Vecrios on 2/2/13, 3:24 AM with 9 comments

• by ciwchris on 2/2/13, 5:02 AM

  It seems to me I had similar concerns when I switched. In particular copy, cut and paste. I ended up using the CUA standard versions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Common_User_Access#Descript.... Although looking back I think the awkwardness had more to do with muscle memory than anything else. I also was concerned when switching to vim. The purpose of using the motion keys h, j, k and l was defeated. I recall there being a dvorak layout for vim but I never switched to it. On the other hand, some of the other commands became much more convenient. Looking back I don't think it has been a big issue. What shortcuts in particular are you concerned with? You could always remap shortcuts using AutoHotKey or some other means. But I'd give muscle memory some time to build up first, unless there are some shortcuts you have found to be extremely inconvenient.

• by phlyingpenguin on 2/2/13, 1:57 PM

  Just keep using it. You'll get used to them quickly and find that it's really not a big deal. I find that I must use two hands centered on the home row to begin with, so the distance/time needed to cut/copy/paste/undo/etc isn't bad. I remap vim's hjkl to dhtn (move d->j) and everything's great.

• by ryne on 2/2/13, 8:02 AM

  You might want to look into Colemak, which keeps some shortcut keys in place, is easier to learn than Dvorak and has similar speed/ergonomic advantages. Of course some shortcuts like vi's hjkl break but it keeps zxcv in place.

• by sobering on 2/2/13, 3:29 AM

  This is the only thing preventing me from making the switch to Dvorak. I'd be interested in people's thoughts as well.

• by unimpressive on 2/2/13, 6:56 AM

  Learned to touch type recently. I opted for Dvoraks. This is probably my biggest pain point.

• by shrughes on 2/2/13, 6:58 AM

  I use Dvorak for shortcuts. They're fine. The Emacs shortcuts are better, actually.