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Charms
May 25th, 2021
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If it isn't already clear from previous entries in my phlog, I am a heavy
GNU/Emacs user.  One of the most difficult things was trying to find a keyboard
that supported long hacking sessions both in terms of body ergonomics as well
as something lightweight and comfortable on my fingers.  I feel as though I
finally found a proper solutions for both.

I now own two Keyboardio Atreus'[0], one with Box White switches and a second
with Box Browns.  The former switches are for typing at home while the latter
is so I am not sacrificed to the silence gods by my co-workers when I
eventually return to working in an office.

The split on these keyboards is the most comfortable that I've found,
especially compared to a fully split keyboard like the Iris[1].  They allow me
to keep my arms tucked in to my body, forearms perpendicular to the floor, and
my wrists level as well.

I have flashed both Atreus' with QMK[2] since ~I have tasted its power~ I have
used it previously on all of my other mechanical keyboards so I am easily able
to replicate my same setup across both keyboards.

I have been using a custom layout that keeps CTRL and ALT easily under my
thumbs (along with some other commonly used mods) because it's much easier to
use those keys with your strongest fingers (the thumbs) without having to move
them a considerable distance (like on standard keyboards where the space bar is
entirely too long to cause you to need to physically move your hand!).

It works, it's simple, and it's efficient.  I never had issues with "emacs
pinky" or had to do any of the weird hacks others have had to do with heavy use
of an emacs-like editor.

However, a co-worker of mine recently told me about a keyboard layout called
"Miryoku"[3] which is built on top of QMK.  The co-worker is a regular
vi/vim/nvim user, but told me he found value in the layout -- it's main feature
is that the four main modifiers (CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, SUPER) are all available
under the home row when certain keys are held down instead of pressed.

It's not immediately obvious, but this layout was designed for heavy emacs-like
editor usage!

I hacked together the layout to run on a Keyboardio Atreus (something I still
need to submit back upstream when I have a chance) and spent a week suffering.
Lots of bindings were flipped compared to my previous custom layout and
rewiring my brain to flip was very difficult.  I printed out the cheatsheet and
kept it on the desk next to my keyboard.  Along with the flip, I spent a lot of
time trying to get used to balancing out hitting mods between two hands instead
of a single mod under one thumb.

After two weeks (and a lot of practice in Klavaro[4]) I was able to make using
the layout feel intuitive, and didn't have to mentally strain to make swapping
modifiers between both hands a reality.  It was also around this time that I
noticed that putting in that effort made a big difference in comfort -- by
balancing mods between both hands I am able to keep both hands more relaxed and
even more centered because it elimiates almost all need for reaching anywhere.

I should mention that I still kept a QWERTY layout on Miryoku and have this
feeling of relaxed balance between both hands even with the inherent issues
that is the QWERTY layout.  Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to try a more
efficient layout, but for now I needed a stepping stone into this new world.

{}{}{}{}{}

I am about a month in to using Miryoku as my main layout and it is a joy.  I
still keep a Preonic around with my custom pseudo-typical layout for playing
games (since having mods activate when held in Miryoku means you would have to
tap A S and D if you're using that to control a game!) but otherwise I am very
happy to have made the switch.

Have you gone through a typing upheaval?  Do you stick to a fairly standard
keyboard/layout?

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[0] https://shop.keyboard.io/products/keyboardio-atreus
[1] https://keeb.io/collections/iris-split-ergonomic-keyboard
[2] https://qmk.fm/
[3] https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku
[4] https://klavaro.sourceforge.io/en/