this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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Which is your preferred thumb key for space and return on the sofle? Default has return on the left and space on the right. I've been using it opposite for a bit with space on the left and was liking that but figured I'd try it out in the default config for a bit. Not sure which I like more / which one feels more comfortable. What's your preference? Do you use space on the left or the right side? Is there a reason for the enter/return key being on the left and space on the right by default?

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[–] Aldoo@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I used to have space on the right, but it was pointed to me that, with my layout (for a reason I cannot remember!), space on the left would be more convenient. So I switched.

However the key symmetrical to space is not enter, but backspace, both keys being the most used in my thumb clusters (I used to have both on the same side, and it was quite bad).

Enter is on the left thumb, next to space.

[–] galilette@mander.xyz 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

One argument for moving space to a specific hand is so space is assigned to the vowel hand. If you are on a layout with definitive vowel / consonant hand split, then the theory goes that it is more frequent for words (at least in English) to begin with a consonant, and separately, also end with a consonant. By having space on the vowel hand, you are promoting hand alternation.

Personally I have vowels on the left hand but still use right thumb for space. I do have 'e' on left thumb, but right hand thumb has been a habit since I learned qwerty on a mechanical typewriter..

[–] Aldoo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Right hand consonants must have been the reason indeed (t, s, r, n, ... ). It is counterbalanced by the fact that punctuation is on the vowel side, but I suppose it doesn't count as much.

[–] moosh@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah, that’s an interesting place to put it, hadn’t considered that location!

[–] Aldoo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Considering that you never press enter next to space, there is no same finger bigram involving these two keys, so I believe it makes sense.

[–] moosh@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Makes sense to me.

[–] Corr@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm also a backspace on opposite thumb user. Feels better/makes more sense than enter for me

[–] moosh@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, that does make sense. So where’s enter for you?

[–] Corr@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have enter on right thumb next to space, and on a combo left hand. I also use the combo as a way to hold enter, since my main enter key is a layer tap

[–] moosh@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Corr@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's when you press 2 keys at the same time to get a new output. So I press c+c on qwerty to get enter.

Here are the QMK docs for combos

[–] moosh@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh, interesting! QMK enables some pretty impressive stuff!

[–] Corr@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They have some great functionality for sure. Combos, tap dances (which I don't use much of personally), and the leader key are all super super useful for compressing the footprint of a keymap down

[–] moosh@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Now that I understand combos, what are tap dances?

[–] Corr@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Similar concept in that it let's a key do multiple things. In this case, you can assign a key to have multiple outputs based on how many times you tap it, and another output for hold. Docs for it