[mdlug] Campaign to retire the Caps Lock key

[M. D. Krauss]

Jeremy Bowers wrote:
> Garry Stahl wrote:
>   
>> Jeremy Bowers wrote:
>>   
>>     
>>> A few weeks ago I remapped Caps Lock to Backspace. It's been working 
>>> well for me and I intend to keep it that way.
>>>
>>> No amount of textual analysis can show that "Backspace" is a 
>>> frequently-used key, so I think people overlook it.
>>>       
>> You obviously are NOT me.  My cursor goes backwards as much as
>> forwards.  Being dyslexic I am a lousy typist.  However, I have no
>> problem with the caps lock key right where it is, being dyslexic and
>> everything.  
>>     
> Actually, that's what I mean. No amount of analyzing the Bible or 
> Shakespeare or any other corpus that people analysing keyboard layouts 
> use will show "Backspace" as a commonly used key. But I probably use it 
> more than, say, "Z" or "Q", and it deserves a better position than "the 
> far corner".
>   
I think he meant what you meant :) but was saying that *although* he 
also uses backspace a lot and agrees with you there, he still doesn't 
want it moved somewhere he's not used to.

Me, I have caps-lock remapped to be ctrl, and the tilde-backtick (~ and 
`)  key and Esc swapped.  Esc is probably not used as often as 
backspace, but it's "standard" position is much less tolerable.  I WILL 
NOT USE a keyboard with a massive backwards-L-shaped Enter key, and the 
backslash-pipe key had better be right between backspace and enter.  
Perhaps, though, now I will swap backspace and backslash.

I kind of like the keyboards that have Spacebar cede half of it's area 
to a large Backspace, though I don't have enough experience with them to 
not be very thrown off by it.

> Whereas "Home" and "End", while useful, don't need to be readily available.
Home and End?  You mean Ctrl-A and Ctrl-Z?  I like them where they are. :-)

Regards,
Matthew