Lenovo have enlarged the “escape” and “delete” keys, but the BOL team are suggesting they take it one step further. In particular, some of the BOLlerz want shot of the “Caps Lock” key, because it is annoyingly easy to enable, but is rarely used. They also want the “Control” key moved back to the position currently occupied by the “Caps Lock” key. Personally, I think there are considerably bigger fish to fry.

I have mild repetitive strain injury (RSI) due to being in contact with t a computer keyboard for most of my waking life. Most of this is probably due to poor typing technique – I’m a full-finger-typer but I don’t use the recommended finger positions from touch-typing simply because I have never been trained. However, a large slice of my pain is due to modifier keys: Shift, Control, Alt, and Command.

I spend considerable time programming. Programming languages – by necessity – use non-alphanumeric symbols to add syntax for functions, strings, and whatever else they might choose to include in the language specification. For instance, C-style languages use brackets ()[]{}for functions, arrays, and blocks; PLT Scheme makes heavy use of #: #t is true; #f is false; #\a is the character a; and #: denotes keyword arguments. The trouble with this reliance on symbols is that most of them require a modifier key to type – a double-quote is Shift+’, for example.

Additionally, like many non-programmers I tend to dislike touching my mouse – it’s so sloooow! I use modifiers for window switching, launching applications, and … well … pretty much everything.

Modifier keys are terrible for RSI because you are effectively playing finger-twister to get the keys combinations you want. Here are a few examples (admittedly on a Mac keyboard, which is a bit different in that the “Command” key is the basis of most actions).

First, let’s say I want to kill a programme in a terminal. For this, I need to hit Control+C

Single-handed Control+C keying

Ok, it’s a bit unnatural and requires some motion away from the natural typing position, but it doesn’t look so bad, right? A slight angling of the wrist inwards is all that’s needed, but that can be enough for RSI to start.

Second, how about copying some text? That’s Command+C on a mac (Ctrl+C on Windows, but the key positions are the same):

Single-handed keying for Command+C

Ouch! I’m basically using the nail of my upturned thumb to hit the Command key – you can probably appreciate this is going to lead to pain.

There are two alternatives to this bizarre contortion. The first is to rotate my arm out through almost 90 degrees (elbow-out!):

Single-handed Command+C, wide-arm style

this one looks easier on the thumb, but surprise surprise, it plays havoc with your shoulder and elbow.

The second alternative is to use two hands, which is my preferred option:

Two handed Command+C

Much easier! However, it took a lot training and discipline to adopt this (cue video montage), and I still fall back to single-handed stunts on occasion.

This ramble leads to my suggestion: put the modifier keys where they would be most natural to press. I don’t want my modifier keys on the periphery of my keyboard – they need to be where my thumbs naturally rest, and that is where the-space bar is. Obviously, we can’t very well replace the Space-bar, but we could stick the modifier keys underneath the Space-bar:

Command+C using proposed modifier keys beneath the Space-bar

This would leave the natural touch-typing position intact, reduce thumb motion, and hopefully leave me with working hands in 20 years time.

As with most terminals, typing the first couple of characters of a command and hitting Tab will expand to either the full command (if there is only one command starting with those characters), or a list of matching commands. So, typing

apti

and hitting Tab will expand to

aptitude

Keystrokes saved, happy days.

Where konsole offered a real improvement was that subcommands and options are also Tab-completable. For instance, I can type

aptitude ins

and hit tab, and this will expand to

aptitude install

These facilities are great because they save keystrokes and give feedback about what options area available.

In contrast, the Mac OS X terminal is a good terminal with basic Tab-completion support out-of-the-box. However, the default configuration does not provide all this extra Tab-complete functionality. It is obviously possible and is great for command-line n00bs, so I’ll implore Apple to put a little more work into it so that it fits their usual high-standards for usability.

So, here’s my wishlist to Apple for the next iteration of the terminal:

1. better tab-completion by default;
2. nicer colours (this is a Mac, after all).

I’ll preface my discussion with a note about who I am and how I use a computer. I am a software engineer, and I work with a number of different programming languages (and usually web-browsers), alongside reliance on shell-based utilities. My primary concerns in an operating system are rapid access to the windows I have open, a powerful shell, and some serious hotkey support: I don’t hate my mouse, but given a choice between moving a tiny pointer to a precise location on the screen and clumsily thumping a couple of keys, I’d head for the latter.

(I know what you’re going to say now: “use emacs”, but I’d really rather not. Emacs is powerful, but it is not an operating system, so all the things I want to do that cannot be done in emacs will require me to behave differently, which is no good, IMHO.)

Anyway, in a little while I’ll post some of my opinions on how KDE4 compares to Mac OS X (Leopard).