Dvorak keyboard layout

tmadhavan · 2005-06-15 23:21:52

Evenin' all, just wondering if anyone uses a dvorak keyboard layout?

After noticing my wrists beginning to go I've decided to switch layouts, as I have all summer to practice.

I can't write any more because its painstakingly slow atm.

Discuss

Dusty · 2005-06-15 23:45:37

I do, and so does Xentac.

(mez) · 2005-06-16 00:11:21

Forgive me for saying so, but are you sure it's the keyboard layout that's causing you pain? Could it not be bad posture? And won't your hands be in the same basic typing position anyway no matter what layout you use (unless you're going for one of those mad kinesis things :shock:)?

I think the layout of a dvorak keyboard is far more logical than qwerty, but personally I'd be hesitant to switch because of the annoyance factor of sitting down to use another PC and having to try and mentally switch back to qwerty every time (I suppose you could remap the keyboard of every computer you use, but it would still be a PITA).

Obviously you could argue that with that kind of attitude we're stuck with qwerty forever, and that may well be true, but I'm not really bothered. Qwerty works fine for me, and I'd be annoyed at having to throw away the typing speed that I've built up over the years.

OTOH, if I found myself in a job that required me to type at absolute top speed for extended periods, I'd probably consider gritting my teeth and learning it; apparently, all the speed typing world records are done on a dvorak keyboard.

paranoos · 2005-06-16 00:20:06

i've tried dvorak. after a few weeks, i finally was about equal with my qwerty speed ... after that, i never noticed any further improvement. the real hassle is when you have to use somebody else's computer, and you can't type qwerty anymore. i'm sure it's quite hard to be good at both.

furthermore, i don't think you'll find switching keyboard layouts will help your wrists. if your wrists hurt it's because of either your posture, or your keyboard hardware itself. i see a lot of people who like to type with their keyboards raised. this isn't good for your wrists at all! your wrists should not bend anywhere while you are typing -- don't bend them up, or sideways either.

Dusty · 2005-06-16 00:33:01

My wrist pain totally went away when I switched to dvorak, but taht may be because my dvortyboard is ergonomic and my old keyboard wasn't.

As for speed, I'm typing between 10 and 30 words per minute faster on Dvorak than I did on Qwerty. I don't usually reach my peek rate because my brain can't keep up to my hands. :-D

Dusty

Kitsunebi · 2005-06-16 05:32:38

Actually, I just made the switch less than two weeks ago. I'm not quite back up to qwerty speed yet, but I'm coming along nicely. I've found this page to be the most useful thus far. That, and that I'm refusing to use qwerty at all for the time being.

Make sure you don't have important typing to do, as you will likely find yourself unable to type in either format effectively for a few days.

Anyway, although I've tossed out qwerty completely for the time being, once I get back up to normal speeds I'm going to start training myself to switch between both effectively. It's going to be a real pain, but it should be worth the extra effort.

tmadhavan · 2005-06-16 09:16:39

OK, second dvorak post

I realise a lot of stress injuries are due to posture, and that is probably a factor, but there seems to be unanimous agreement that dvorak keyboards reduce wrist strain.

I am a bit worried about not being able to type in qwerty (especially seeing as I have to use uni machines a bit), but it's no trouble changing layouts on linux, and apparently it's now quite straightforward on Windows too.

Being bored, I changed all the keys around on wy keyboard, leaving me with a somewhat uneven typing surface. Amy reccomendations for a dvorak board? Or a better way of changing keys? I don't fancy sticky labels, and the boards I've seen so far were pretty expensive.

T

oscar · 2005-06-16 10:16:51

Don't worry about forgetting how to write with qwerty - most of us were born with qwerty in our fingers.... :-)

Dusty · 2005-06-16 14:36:54

Yeah, I usually type slow for about ten minutes when I'm on a qwerty keyboard and then it comes back... then again, if I'm typing for more than ten minutes, I think its worth while to switch layouts. It is easy in both Linux and XP, but you catch a lot of flac if you forget to change it back. ;-)

Dvorak typing reduces the total amount of travel your fingers have to cover to type (when typing English, anyway). This means less work for your hands and wrists.

Dusty

SleepyDog · 2005-06-16 16:33:28

I've been using dvorak for about two years now. It took me about a month to surpass my QWERTY speed. My school computers don't allow me to switch keyboard layouts, but I've been switching back and forth so long, that it takes me no longer than a slight pause to switch back and forth. What I like about dvorak is that you almost never move your fingers from the home row, because all the important letters are there.

BTW, have any of the dvorak users switched all their keyboard bindings? I use the default bindings for vim, even though they don't make much sense. It feels very awkward having the direction keys mapped to dtns.

The previous post, typing in qwerty:

C-k. x..b gocbi ekrpat urp axrgy y,r f.apo br,v Cy yrrt m. axrgy a mrbyd yr ogplaoo mf "<>PYF ol..ev Mf ojdrrn jrmlgy.po erb-y annr, m. yr o,cyjd t.fxrape nafrgyow xgy C-k. x..b o,cyjdcbi xajt abe urpyd or nrbiw yday cy yat.o m. br nrbi.p ydab a oncidy lago. yr o,cyjd xajt abe urydv <day C nct. axrgy ekrpat co yday frg anmroy b.k.p mrk. frgp ucbi.po uprm yd. drm. prw x.jago. ann yd. cmlrpyaby n.yy.po ap. yd.p.v

XY<w dak. abf ru yd. ekrpat go.po o,cyjd.e ann yd.cp t.fxrape xcbecbioZ C go. yd. e.uany xcbecbio urp kcmw .k.b ydrgid yd.f erb-y mat. mgjd o.bo.v Cy u..no k.pf a,t,ape dakcbi yd. ecp.jycrb t.fo mall.e yr eybo

8)

Dusty · 2005-06-16 16:46:06

I've remapped my vim keys:

:noremap d h
:noremap h j
:noremap t k
:noremap n l
:noremap k d
:noremap l n
:noremap j t
:noremap d h
:noremap h j
:noremap t k
:noremap n l

'd' (for delete) becomes 'k' (for kill?). n (for next) becomes l (for latest?) t (for to character) becomes j (for jump to character?).

I've done similar with JEdit and wmi bindings.

Dusty

Kitsunebi · 2005-06-16 19:35:06

tmadhavan wrote:

Being bored, I changed all the keys around on wy keyboard, leaving me with a somewhat uneven typing surface. Amy reccomendations for a dvorak board? Or a better way of changing keys? I don't fancy sticky labels, and the boards I've seen so far were pretty expensive.

Personally, I just left the keyboard the way it was. It only took a day or so before I no longer needed to look up any key positions. No need to rearrange or buy new key-caps, get sticky labels, or purchase a new keyboard.

phrakture · 2005-06-16 19:44:45

hmmm how'd you guys learn dvorak... just typing random crap?
I never actually learned to type qwerty... I do it all positional... not touch typing (but also no looking)..

it's wierd.... like I make sure I know where shift and space and alt are and i do it based on spatialization...

the only thing I ever screw up typing this way, is that I happen to jam backspace and the "|" key at the same time on occasion... which sucks because my screenrc has "escape \\".... so I'll go to backspace and suddenly switch screen windows....

Dusty · 2005-06-16 20:16:37

There's a program called Dvorak7min that I used for a week or two, but then I just started typing everything on Dvorak. Amount I type, it only took a few weeks to be right back on top of things and speeding up... I didn't spend much time on Jabber during the first week or two though!

Dusty

jakob · 2005-10-27 12:17:08

Hehe, Im writing on a layout which is optimized for german language (and therefor way better for english writing, too, compared to qwert*)...
Im doing it since midth of July and had big problems in switching, too, but since I exercised writing on qwert for one weekend I don't have problems in switching from qwert to NEO 5 times in a minute.

Only thing that is very hard is that we still have no "loadkeys"-driver for NEO so i always have to shift between my guest-archlinux in VMWare and Win XP...

for NEO there are 2 drivers available:

neo.Xmodmap
which is after installation available through xmodmap neo.xmodmap

und "neo_de" which can be activated through "setxkbmap", but since X is not running yet on my guest-Linux I need the correct driver for bash...

Can anyone help? Is there a converter kind of thing to bring the neo_de working with loadkeys?

Why after all, are there so many different possibilities to use different Kbd layouts???

With greetings,

hellwoofa

manica · 2006-01-14 06:43:49

I've been using Dvorak for a few years and I really like it. There is a newer layout that boasts an even more efficient layout than Dvorak called colemak. It has more keys in common with Qwerty than Dvorak does, so it would probably be an easier switch.

Darin

codemac · 2006-01-15 20:06:50

I switched cold turkey one summer, when I knew I didn't have to type anything quickly. And I used to get pains in my outer fingers, but since switching to dvorak, I type faster, and with no pain on the same keyboards.

Arch Linux

#1 2005-06-15 23:21:52

Dvorak keyboard layout

#2 2005-06-15 23:45:37

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#3 2005-06-16 00:11:21

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#4 2005-06-16 00:20:06

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#5 2005-06-16 00:33:01

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#6 2005-06-16 05:32:38

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#7 2005-06-16 09:16:39

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#8 2005-06-16 10:16:51

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#9 2005-06-16 14:36:54

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#10 2005-06-16 16:33:28

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#11 2005-06-16 16:46:06

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#12 2005-06-16 19:35:06

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#13 2005-06-16 19:44:45

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#14 2005-06-16 20:16:37

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#15 2005-10-27 12:17:08

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#16 2006-01-14 06:43:49

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

#17 2006-01-15 20:06:50

Re: Dvorak keyboard layout

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