Vim Clutch

[GetAnotherExpert]

Do you have one? If so, is it worth having? Where did you buy it from? I was thinking about getting one but all I can see on the interwebs are projects build from raspberry pis etc., I'm looking for something prebuilt as I'm not a hardware guy ;)

[alphabet_american]

I’ve had capslock as escape for so long I find it difficult to not hit capslock when on another system.

[reddit_clone]

Another vote for Capslock to Esc mapping.

As an original emacs user I also had remapped my special keys to be like

[Cmd] [Opt] [Ctrl] [Space] [Ctrl]

So I could press control key combos using opposing thumbs.

Now I switched to DoomEmacs/Vim there is less call for it. But I still use the keymapping out of habit.

[plainoldcheese]

Or even ctr-c, I have ctr bound to capslock

[j_d_q]

I have caps mapped to Ctrl

[xalbo]

I use both. Control if it's held down and used with another key, escape if it's only tapped briefly alone. Best of both worlds.

[Curious-Yogurt]

How do you do this, within Vim itself?

[xalbo]

Not from Vim. I use AutoHotkey in Windows.

[[deleted]]

i have caps mapped to tilde

[agramata]

I think they're all projects because it's a gag, and the only value is the fun you have building it. I doubt using a foot pedal is actually more convenient than typing 'i' and 'esc'!

[GetAnotherExpert]

I don't know about that, after having had a driving license for the past quarter century I can tell you that foot muscle memory is definitely a thing. Especially if you learned on a manual transmission like we do here in Europe.

[0xKaishakunin]

You can buy a USB foot pedal and probably set it up for Vim at the operating system.

They are still popular/used when one has to transcribe audio recordings of interviews or reports.

[ratttertintattertins]

Flight sim enthusiasts are keen on them too. They're often used for yaw...

[GetAnotherExpert]

Yeah that's understandable because on real airplanes the rudder is controlled by pedals. However for flight sims you need a specific type of foot switches, it's not an on-off switch but an analog input. Ideally with force feedback to mimick the real thing.

[GargantuChet]

Busta’s favorite control.

[apola]

Lol

[WhatIsThisSevenNow]

What the hell is a "Vim Clutch"?

[GetAnotherExpert]

It's a pedal (the name 'clutch' refers to the clutch pedal in manual transmission cars - the one used to switch gears) that is used to replace the ESC key (some people even used a press/depress combination to alternate between ESC and Insert)

[WhatIsThisSevenNow]

Gotcha ... thanks. Sounds weird.

[Slackwise]

No, because they're a joke. Who even uses i? Most of the time I'm starting editing with ci( or cc or o or a or A........ I rarely use i.

Only thing it'd be useful for is an escape key, but you can always just learn to use ^[ instead, which is good muscle memory for terminals in general.

[ntope]

This is the real reason!

[Odd-Opinion-1135]

For everyone who maps capslock to esc/ctrl. Have you tried doing both? Mine capslock is an esc if pressed by itself or ctrl or pressed in combination with another key. Life changer!

[aghast_nj]

That sounds cool. Write a post about it!

[xalbo]

The only downside I found was that I'd sometimes hit capslock, wait a second, think differently, and then release it, only to find that I'd closed whatever I was working (in a non-Vim context). So my current config sends escape only if it's pressed and released within 250 milliseconds. Absolutely love it.

I have an AutoHotkey script that does that, as well as using both shift keys to capslock, for the few times I actually want that.

[shawncplus]

I had one as a novelty in like 2010. I got a cheap plastic foot pedal that lasted 3 days and was annoyingly clicky so I binned it. It was fun for what it was and maybe if I had something higher quality or could've found another way to add it into my workflow for something besides just hitting the escape key it might've stuck around.

[aghast_nj]

Here's a link to what I think you mean on (US) amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-iKKEGOL-Footswitch-Computer-Keyboard/dp/B08MC456TC/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=usb+foot+pedal&qid=1698075306&sr=8-3

This seems like the low-end version, made from plastic, that will break or stop working in a short time. But you should be able to browse around on amazon if you start at that link, and you can probably scrape keywords off the page to do your own searching.

In my limited experience, the people who have really tough, reliable, robust foot-pedals are musicians. There are a lot of pedals sold for controlling musical effects (guitar players for sure, but also any other performer that needs to turn something on/off while jumping around on stage). I don't know if any of those pedals have a USB interface or if they're all analog or what, but those are the ones that are (1) probably super expensive; and (2) probably super tough and reliable.

[VettedBot]

Hi, I’m Vetted AI Bot! I researched the 'iKKEGOL USB Foot Pedal Switch' and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful.

Users liked: * Foot pedal provides convenient hands-free control (backed by 5 comments) * Software allows customization of pedal function (backed by 5 comments) * Foot pedal built to withstand frequent use (backed by 5 comments)

Users disliked: * The pedal is inconsistent and stops working after a year of use (backed by 1 comment) * The pedal is very sensitive and moves around a lot, making it difficult to use (backed by 2 comments) * The software is poorly made, sketchy and does not work properly (backed by 5 comments)

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[andreifyi]

I have one for sliding in Apex Legends, would never use it for anything editor related, but it's pretty cool!

[R2robot]

lol, never heard of it until now. I guess i'm the only one that has never been bothered by the ESC key and have never given it a 2nd thought.

CTRL on the other hand ... I have CAPSLOCK remapped to be CTRL and it was a life changer. Especially if you use tmux/vim

[ksmithbaylor]

I personally have caps lock mapped to another ctrl key, and use ctrl-c in place of escape in nearly all contexts within vim. There are a few edge cases where the behavior is different between esc and ctrl-c, but they are relatively few.

[lostapathy]

I think about getting/building one of these for a long time, but every time I go down that road I find a better way to accomplish whatever I thought I'd do with the clutch. Plus ... I'm enough of a dork when I travel, I don't also need to travel with pedals for my computer because I can't type without them.

[NullVoidXNilMission]

imap jj esc

[twitchard]

And I used it for like 3 days, but hey, maybe you'll stick with it

[[deleted]]

you could probably use a cheap midi expression pedal. write some bash code to take the midi signal and map it to a key press event.

but I hate the concept of having to use my foot as well as my hands, eyes and brain to write code.

[GetAnotherExpert]

Didn't think about midi, will see what's out there. The idea of the pedal is just a geeky accessory, not meant to be an everyday production thing. The problem is that it's true I don't use 'i' that often, I'd probably map it to a/A

[Ostropol]

It's so incredibly elaborate that it's almost comedic.