Re: xkb options
* Celejar <celejar@gmail.com> [070424 08:42]:
> I understand that. I'm actually currently using dvorak7m to teach
> myself touch typing using the dvorak keymapping, and I'm using an
> ordinary qwerty keyboard. I switch back and forth with 'setxkbmap
> dvorak' / 'setxkbmap us.
...
> I really need to learn to touch type properly, and then there will
> really be no reason not to use the same keyboard for everything,
> switching on the fly with 'setkkbmap' or something like I mentioned
> above (e.g. 'grp:ctrl_rwin_toggle'). Why wouldn't that be the optimal
> solution?
Yes; that is the optimal solution. I learned to touch type in 1963,
and I switched to the Dvorak-Classic layout in 1983. The transition
took only a few weeks, because I refused to return to the QWERTY
layout. The transition takes much longer if you switch back and forth
from Dvorak to QWERTY.
However, back then I did use a keyboard in which the keycaps
were marked according to the Dvorak layout. But now I use a standard
keyboard on which the keys have QWERTY markings.
English keyboard users who decide to make the switch should choose the
"Dvorak-Classic" layout instead of the plain "Dvorak" layout. The
difference is that in the Classic layout -- which follows the original
as designed by Dvorak himself -- the numeric key row is as follows:
[ 7 5 3 1 9 0 2 4 6 8 ]
But the layout adopted by ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
about 1983 uses the QWERTY arrangement for the numeric row of keys.
This sometimes is called the "modified Dvorak" layout, but most of the
time it simply is called the "Dvorak" layout.
If you wish to be able to type numbers without pain and without error,
insist upon the Dvorak-Classic layout! Note that Dvorak-Classic is
available in XKB.
RLH
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