diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index fb2b6a6..8870b70 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -31,117 +31,27 @@ FAQ: LAYOUT LEARNING -------------------- ### ☑ "Should I learn Colemak? Is it worth it?" - - Yes. Well, you asked. On a page dedicated to Colemak... ¯\(º_o)/¯ - - Longer answer: If your only concern is speed then maybe not. You can get fast with most layouts, likely including the one you're using now. - - "Your fingers will thank you" goes the slogan. Colemak is very comfortable and once you've learnt it properly you'll nearly certainly enjoy it a lot. - - While learning though, it can be unpleasant at times. So be warned if you're an impatient type. There are different ways of learning, if you wish. - - If you're worried about having to use QWERTY on other computers, that's usually not a big problem. You can get by, and you can even maintain both. - - Consider that you'll probably type a lot in your lifetime. Learning a better way of doing that should easily be worth the while. - - In sum, nearly everyone we've heard from who gave it a dedicated attempt have ended up saying that learning an improved layout is worth it. - ### ☑ "What about Vim, or other programs that use shortcuts?" - - For the majority of users, that's not a problem. Many worry beforehand, but we haven't heard anyone with a little experience complain. - - In Vim and most other programs, most of the shortcuts are by letter. The Yank command in Vim is on the Y key no matter where that is. - - Commands/shortcuts that are positional will take a little more getting used to. Some remap them, but many prefer not to after a while. - - There are other navigation ways than HJKL in Vim, and they may just be better overall. [Extend][bigext] is a good example – it even stays with you outside Vim! - ### ☑ "Which Colemak is better, Classical/Vanilla or Curl/DH?" - - It's quite individual really! There are many users of both variants, among them people who have tried both. - - The Curl-DH mod reduces lateral (inwards) travel for the index fingers, and helps the common HE bigram. - - To determine what you like best, decide how you feel about inwards stretches to D (QWERTY G) and H. - - Then compare with the downwards curl to V and M. If you prefer those, consider Cmk-DH. - - Individual preference and typing style (e.g., float vs grounding) may affect the choice. - - Both variants are well suited for both row-staggered and matrix/ortho keyboards. - - People have achieved 220+ WPM typing test results on both variants (Viper and Sophie). - ### ☑ "Is Colemak-DH the same as...?" - - "...DHm/DHk, the DH mod for ANSI/ISO vs matrix/ortho keyboards, or...?" - - There are many names and letters floating around, let's hopefully clear this up a bit. - - The DH mod for Colemak is the result of SteveP's Mod-DH project from 2014. As its name says, it moves the D and H keys. - - It's a _Curl_ mod: It lets the home row curl down like the natural curve of fingers on a hand instead of stretching inwards. - - To be precise, 'Mod-DH' is the _project_. The 'Curl-DH' or just 'DH' _mod_ is the result. 'Colemak-DH' is the resulting _layout_. - - On a row-staggered board (any standard keyboard has a 1/4–1/2u row stagger), DH is accompanied by an _Angle_ mod. - - The geometrically descriptive name for Colemak-DH is therefore Colemak-CurlAngle or Cmk-CA. - - There is only one standard variant of Cmk-DH now, although a few have been tried out. It's the same as the original from 2014. - - Standard Cmk-DH has M on the home row and is thus also named Cmk-DHm. There's also a Cmk-DHk, the former standard (2017–2020). - - A common misconception is that the 'm' in DHm stands for 'matrix' as in matrix/ortho boards. This is wrong. I should know; I made that abbreviation. - - Some use Colemak-CurlAngle plus further Wide and Sym mods, which makes Colemak-CAWS. See [the Big Bag][bigbag]. - ### ☑ "Why is Z in the middle of the board on Angle-ANSI? Would DH work without that pesky confusing Angle mod?" - - "Would using one ortho board and another ANSI Angle-modded board make it more confusing?"
FAQ: LAYOUT DESIGN ------------------ -### ☑ "Which layouts are better than Colemak?" - - Any answer depends a lot on modeling and scoring. Individual factors and preferences become important, as with vanilla vs DH. - - Diminishing returns, infinite layout pool - - More changes from QWERTY, more keys change hands, fewer shortcuts kept - - Many layouts claiming superiority have more pinky movement! Also more pinky SFBs even with fewer total SFBs. - - Colemak places the quite common `A` and `O` on pinkies, but has little pinky movement to the other rows. - - Word of warning about implementation. - ### ☑ "Isn't Workman/Norman/Whatever better than Colemak? Its documentation says so!" - - Please don't trust any layout maker's own words. There really are a lot of fairly clueless people, and even nutcases make layouts. - - Specifically, the Norman and Workman layout makers seem exceedingly proud of themselves and imnsho shouldn't be. - - For one: Both these layouts have too high same-finger bigram (SFB) stats, and their fans downplay the problem. - - Secondly, most users of these layouts that have studied layout design a little seem to be unhappy with their choice. - - Here's [Ben Vallack talking about leaving Workman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVmJrZF9xwk&t=245s). - +### ☑ "Which layouts _are_ better than Colemak?" ### ☑ "I want to tweak Colemak a little to suit my needs!" - - Unless you are an experienced layout designer, consider that you probably don't know and understand enough to do it well. - - On a properly optimized layout it's generally very hard to change even a small thing without breaking something more important. - - You need to understand typing concepts such as grounding vs float, hand and finger balances, alternation vs rolls, lateral stretches etc. - - You need to understand anatomical concepts such as finger strengths, interdependences and speeds, ulnar deviation etc. - - Same-finger bigrams is a crucial factor in layout design! You may not notice them at first though. - - Some say that a SFB% of, say, 0.2% for one bigram – 1 in is so little that you won't notice it. - - Beyond simple SFBs you have roll direction and redirects, skip-grams and whatnot. Here be dragons! - - Read the [Colemak Design FAQ](https://colemak.com/Design_FAQ) and the accompanying [Design article](https://colemak.com/Design) first, to learn more. - - "In the world of layout design there is no beginner's luck, only beginner's mistakes" ~ DreymaR, 2021 - ### ☑ "Wouldn't it be better to swap R and S on Colemak? It's so hard to learn!" - - We get this one a lot from newcomers! You won't believe how common it is! - - [Here's a funny video comment for you](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qLkq6jYnJM)! - - See the "I want to tweak Colemak..." question above first. - - Simply swapping R and S on Colemak is definitely not recommended! It leads to higher same-finger bigram frequency and other issues. - - Ease of learning is a design property of Colemak, but should not be so at the cost of too much layout quality. - - Funnily enough, other layouts move lots of keys between hands and swap them around. Their learners don't complain. - - Colemak, on the other hand, has this one somewhat hard-to-learn key swap, and lots of learners complain since it's just that one. - - If you make a change to Colemak that makes it worse, you're fixing a temporary problem with a permanently inferior solution! - - In the [Colemak Design FAQ](https://colemak.com/Design_FAQ) Shai Coleman answers the R-S exchange question like this: - - It significantly reduces same-finger. This is especially important as it affects the ring finger which is the least dexterous finger. - - (e.g. try typing WSWSWS fast on QWERTY) - - It allows for W to stay in the same place. It's more important to keep the potentially destructive Ctrl+W shortcut. - - (Close Window under MS Windows) - - Since you care about initial learning, consider that hitting Ctrl+S (Save) by mistake is far less destructive than Ctrl+W (Close window). - - RS occurs 0.40% of the time; common for a bigram. SR occurs 0.006% of the time. It's better to roll this bigram inwards than outwards. - - The ST bigram too is better as it is in Colemak, and more common than TS. - - There are some more answers in [this R-S Reddit topic](https://www.reddit.com/r/Colemak/comments/hnfk6e/is_there_a_good_reason_for_the_placement_of_r_and/) - ### ☑ "Is mapping the CapsLock key to Backspace a part of the Colemak layout?" - - When the Colemak layout was introduced, the layout was indeed bundled with this nifty trick. - - However, treating layout components as modules works better. CapsLock key behavior should be treated separately from letter layout. - - This is the case in Linux XKB for instance, where you can select what the CapsLock key does independently from your layout choice. - - Furthermore, several tricks and tools have been added to your options since the birth of Colemak. - - Consider using the Caps key as a powerful [Extend layer modifier](https://dreymar.colemak.org/layers-extend.html)! - - With Extend, you'll keep both Back and CapsLock in handy locations. It's also easy to hit Ctrl+Back with Extend, and so much more. - - In some implementations, the your Caps key can even be both Back on tap and the Extend mod on hold, as a Tap-or-Mod key.
FAQ: PRACTICAL LAYOUT QUESTIONS [WIP] ------------------------------------- -### ☐ "My right pinky gets tired! And typing `you` is uncomfortable! What's wrong?" - - Many QWERTY typists hardly use their right hand pinky, as the rare semicolon sits in its home row position and some type P with their ring finger. - - These typists may need to build up their finger strength a little to type well on Colemak. Pinky fu!   🥋 - - There are layouts that deprioritize the pinkies more than Colemak. These generally aren't so good, however. - - There are several highly optimized layouts that have a heavier pinky load than Colemak. - - The `you` trigram in particular, isn't so great on Colemak. Trust me, most common n-grams are great.   👍 - - This one has a so-called `redirect`, which means that it changes direction (RL then LR). That's not so comfortable. - - Furthermore, it uses both the weak pinky and the codependent ring finger. You just have to train it! - -### ☐ "How can I train my fingers to get better at typing for instance `you`, then?" +### ☑ "My right pinky gets tired! And typing `you` is uncomfortable! What's wrong?" +### ☑ "How can I train my fingers to get better at typing for instance `you`, then?" - At the [Big Bag Training page][bigtrn] there are tips for training hard n-grams. Try a list of words containing 'ou uo yo oy uy yu'! - If you have a programmable keyboard you could make a chord for hard n-grams. E.g., press 'yu' at the same time for 'you'. @@ -159,6 +69,12 @@ FAQ: PRACTICAL LAYOUT QUESTIONS [WIP] FAQ: LAYOUT DESIGN ANALYSIS [WIP] --------------------------------- +### ☑ "I want to tweak Colemak a little to suit my needs!" + - Same-finger bigrams is a crucial factor in layout design! You may not notice them at first though. + - Some say that a SFB% of, say, 0.2% for one bigram – 1 in is so little that you won't notice it. + - Beyond simple SFBs you have roll direction and redirects, skip-grams and whatnot. Here be dragons! + - "In the world of layout design there is no beginner's luck, only beginner's mistakes" ~ DreymaR, 2021 + ### ☐ English bigram frequencies from [Norvig/Mayzner](https://blogs.sas.com/content/iml/files/2014/09/bigrams.txt): ##: Bigram ##: Reverse Sum Ratio | - Comment ======================================================================================================= @@ -186,12 +102,12 @@ FAQ: LAYOUT DESIGN ANALYSIS [WIP] NK: 0.052% KN: 0.051% 0.10% 1.0 | - NK/KN is easily alt-fingered with index-middle fingers ### ☐ SteveP's SFB analysis using the colemakmods analyzer: + - SFB frequencies on the Colemakmods analyzer: Colemak 1.669% Colemak (angle-cheat) 1.789% Colemak-RS 2.034% Colemak-RS (angle-cheat) 2.044% - -### ☐ Thoughts: + - So the difference is bigger than 0.24% in this analysis - is that due to the difference between Norvig/Mayzner and the carpalx (which I use) datasets? - I've always thought that if people are determined to swap RS, then they should do a FL swap as well: diff --git a/docs/index.html b/docs/index.html index 38e496c..090197f 100644 --- a/docs/index.html +++ b/docs/index.html @@ -160,7 +160,7 @@

COLEMAK-DH WITHOUT THE ANGLE MOD?!?

  • Secondly, many users of these layouts who have studied layout design a little seem unhappy with their choice.
  • Workman was created to address Colemak's lateral index finger travel to D and H (see DH vs vanilla). It did so poorly.
  • If you do dislike lateral travel, Colemak-DH achieves the same thing without sacrificing layout quality.
    • -
  • Here's Ben Vallack talking about leaving Workman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVmJrZF9xwk&t=245s
    • +
  • Here's a video by Ben Vallack in which he talks about abandoning Workman.
    • @@ -261,7 +261,7 @@

    COLEMAK-DH WITHOUT THE ANGLE MOD?!?

  • The YOU trigram in particular, isn't so great on Colemak. Trust us though: Most common n-grams are great.
  • This word has a so-called redirect on Colemak, which means that it changes direction (RL then LR). That's not so comfortable.
  • Furthermore, it uses both the weak pinky and the codependent ring finger.
    • -
  • TL;DR: Nothing is really wrong. You just have to train it!
    • +
  • TL;DR: Nothing is really wrong. You just have to train it!