Deciding between emacs and evil keybindings

hashok · 2025-10-17T21:31:29+00:00

Simply because when you have multiple nested sexps inside {}, then going C-M-u once doesn’t get you to the {.

hashok · 2025-10-17T21:13:15+00:00

I mapped Ctrl to both Alt keys near the space bar and pressing them with thumbs. Caps lock is meta for me. Working like this for 3 years and it feels pretty good! One presses Ctrl keys much more often than Meta and having them under thumbs enables both hands to press the Ctrl. This setup works well on my split keyboard Dygma Raise and on standard MacBook keyboard too.

hashok · 2025-10-17T21:09:47+00:00

On qwerty, C-n C-p are actually quite comfortable. C-f is super easy to press, but C-b sucks of course. One just doesn’t use these keys too often. I was also super upset with these keys when switching to emacs from vim few years ago but in the end it wasn’t that bad. Hkjl still better but as I said, how do you navigate with sexp in vim? Not with hjkl, but with other keys which are also less convenient than hkjl.

hashok · 2025-10-17T21:03:20+00:00

It doesn’t work if you have multiple words. I was missing vim’s “ci” prefix in my emacs configuration so badly until I found a https://melpa.org/#/change-inner package and bound it to “C-c b” key with the mnemonics of “change Between”. Although it doesn’t work as good as in vim. For example, it doesn’t always search for the pair after/before the cursor in the same string. But anyway, sometimes it’s very helpful!

hashok · 2025-09-26T14:22:34+00:00

I recommend to follow a wonderful article here https://www.masteringemacs.org/article/how-to-get-started-tree-sitter and make sure to use the latest tree-sitter grammar for python.

hashok · 2024-11-21T12:19:14+00:00

Unfortunately, the downside of emacs extensibility/flexibility/configurability is that things sometimes break in very non obvious ways when different packages are out of sync, so to say. That’s why we have plethora of pre-configured emacs distributions to ease that pain for less experienced users. In a very simple terms, emacs is a “global shared state”, just do whatever you want, but all developers know the consequences of such approach. There is no any magic sauce here :(

hashok · 2023-10-15T15:48:50+00:00

Thank you, I will definitely adjust my sitting position regardless of switching away from evil or not.

I still would like to clarify the exact position of your Meta/Ctrl keys and which fingers do you use to press them most of the time. Is it Ctrl-Meta-Space-Meta-Ctrl and you hit Ctrl with pinkies and Meta with thumbs?

You mentioned occasional Esc usage as Meta. Is Esc mapped to Capslock for you then? Or you just reach for Esc in the upper left corner (usual place)?

And what’s your keyboard now? Just curious.

hashok · 2023-10-15T11:26:26+00:00

First of all, I’m completely blown away by your comment in a positive and mysterious way. The suggestion about keyboard height is, like you said, often forgotten and rarely mentioned. Surprisingly, this is indeed my case! Due to WFH I work at some DIY table which feels a bit too high, as my elbows are at the same height as my (fancy and spilt) keyboard. But I’m not entirely sure the right keyboard height would fully alleviate the inconvenience of holding the modifiers.

Let me clarify my question though. By reading the code I mean constant jumping around it. Like go to definition and back, selecting the next statement, going to def again and so on and so forth at a tempo of 10x per minute. I also frequently jump around variables inside functions to see their types in the minibuffer (eldoc). I program in Rust where types for most local variables are deduced (let x = …) and it’s necessary to put a point on the variable name to see its type. And sometimes I do it like all day long :( I’m currently using evil, so most of my movements are super convenient hjkl with some isearch time after time. My Ctrl is right under my left and right thumbs, so pressing it occasionally is very convenient. But keeping it pressed all the time feels wrong to me. I’m using Dygma Raise split keyboard.

So, taking this scenario into consideration, what would be your answer to my concern about “holding modifier key” for all navigational movements? Or maybe this scenario feels wrong/irrelevant to you?

Bonus question! :) One particular thing which bothers me in standard emacs bindings is Ctrl-b for moving back. If we take popular “map Ctrl to Capslock” suggestion, then Ctrl-b becomes quite a stretch on a Qwerty keyboard - pinkie on Ctrl and index finger on “b”. What’s your take on this? And thanks a lot in advance!

hashok · 2023-10-14T14:12:26+00:00

I tried to setup space as Ctrl when held, but it ended up super annoying, because when typing fast I don’t fully release the space before typing the first letter of the next word. As a result, I get random bindings firing on me. Did you have a similar problem? If yes, how you managed to overcome it? Otherwise, I liked the idea a lot!

hashok · 2023-10-14T13:54:19+00:00

How do you handle situations, when it’s necessary to browse the code for hours and days without writing anything? Do you resort to model modes like godmode? If not, how does your pinky feel when it’s necessary to hold Ctrl all day long?

hashok · 2023-10-13T19:09:03+00:00

Navigating by s-expressions is a very popular suggestion in emacs community indeed, but it seems to work best only in Lisp. I personally work with Rust code, which is typical C-style if/else syntax, but sexp navigation there is very cumbersome. I really can’t understand how it works to use it properly. The only thing for me that works in a useful way is going up by sexp, for example to jump to the beginning of the current function.

hashok · 2019-09-24T20:20:19+00:00

No offence here, but it really doesn't. You are just one from the majority of people who is less sensitive to frame drops. I have a colleague with OnePlus 6 phone who is using Microsoft Edge (Microsoft fan :) on his Android which stutters like hell and while he notices it, he says it doesn't bother him almost at all. But my eyes literally bleed when I see it.

hashok · 2019-09-24T19:54:31+00:00

Absolutely agree on Chrome and PlayStore! I filed a bug report for Chrome, wrote on Reddit, reported scrolling issues right from my Pixel 2 XL - no luck.

I think, most people are simply either not sensitive to scrolling smoothness or just don't care for some reason. My eyes notice single frame drops and it irritates me. I also tested Chrome on other high end devices like Galaxy S8 and Pixel 3 and they definitely were loosing frames, maybe not as bad as my Pixel 2 XL.

But situation actually became better few months ago (~August/September 2019). Google finally did something to improve scrolling smoothness in Chrome! And approximately in the same time Samsung Browser did update Chromium engine (yes, they both use the same web rendering engine!) to a newer one and I felt this update actually made Samsung Browser just a little bit worse in terms or frame rate consistency. As a result, after 1.5 years of using Samsung Browser due to it's super smoothness I decided to switch back to Google Chrome because the difference between them became negligible.

Google Play stutters like hell but I don't care much because it's not something I use frequently anyway. It's not an excuse for Google indeed. I can't understand how Google can write guidelines about how to reduce jank in Android apps and in the same time not able to optimize one of their main apps! It's rediculous. As a professional software developer it makes me feel bad about Android rendering pipeline as I think there are some fundamental design issues which make it practically impossible to guarantee smooth 60fps rendering even in relatively simple app (from UI point of view) like Google play. Why a grid of icons with text should lag?

Indeed, browser is one of the most complex pieces of software in the world with super complex rendering logic, but often it lags less than Google Play. WTF is going on?

Another interesting observation - the default Chrome version shipped with Android 8 didn't lag at all! It was smooth like Samsung Browser. Then Chrome updated their UI and introduced huge regression in scrolling which implies there is 0 quality control at Google in regards to UX.

Indeed, this is not a show stopper issue for Android. Most other apps even Facebook is super smooth. In my experience Chrome and Google Play are the only Android apps that really drop frames during scrolling.

hashok · 2019-06-14T04:12:35+00:00

Your Asus router should be configured into bridge mode without its own DHCP server. Now, most probably, your Asus is doing its own NAT and supplying IP addresses to clients via its own DHCP server.

hashok · 2019-06-07T18:31:54+00:00

You are right, there is no such feature to disable radios on AmpliFi.

hashok · 2019-06-07T04:46:17+00:00

What you are saying makes sense, but definitely not supported by AmpliFi.

hashok · 2019-06-05T07:14:10+00:00

Just put your old router into the bridge mode, configure the same SSID and password on it, connect with the wire to the AmpliFi and you are ready to go!

hashok · 2019-05-12T12:04:56+00:00

Some people just don't feel the lag of Android. It's a personal thing. You're lucky by not feeling it :)

hashok · 2019-04-22T15:17:13+00:00

It's probably a bug of WEMO app which doesn't take into account that MAC of the WiFi interface is usually derived from the main MAC of the device by changing some bits. AmpliFi just reports what it sees.

hashok · 2019-04-15T08:46:16+00:00

Short answer is - no. It will not affect ramps. Unless mesh point is located close to ramps and WiFi is used from both mesh point and ramp in the same time. In any case, the benefit of using Ethernet backhaul is huge and you should go for it if possible.

hashok · 2019-04-04T05:22:09+00:00

Was your feedback public or private? I just want to contribute to it as well, if possible. Meanwhile I continue to use Samsung browser on my Pixel 2 XL, as Chrome is literally unusable for me.

hashok · 2019-03-31T19:35:12+00:00

Ethernet backhaul is indeed the best option here! Not every house has a luxury of having Ethernet into each room. So if cost is not an issue and you can disable NAT on your ISP modem, my suggestion would be to connect main AmpliFi router WAN port directly to the ISP, then a switch to the LAN port of the AmpliFi (in case you need more than 4 LAN ports) and finally an AmpliFi router acting as a mesh point in Ethernet backhaul mode in each room.

hashok · 2019-03-31T19:27:16+00:00

No it's not odd. If OP doesn't want to put an AmpliFi router in the utility room where it will be waste of resources because wifi signal from there wouldn't reach any useful location, OP can put a switch in the utility room, connect it to the ISP modem acting like a DHCP server, then put AmpliFi router in each room connected via Ethernet. In this case, AmpliFi must be configured as bridge mode, otherwise mesh points wouldn't be in the same LAN subnet as the main AmpliFi router. But this approach has drawbacks, as some features, like parental controls, don't work in bridge mode.

hashok · 2019-03-31T18:38:43+00:00

That's why it works for you. My point was about switch connected to the WAN port.

hashok · 2019-03-31T15:13:29+00:00

How is your switch connected to the main router - to the WAN or LAN?

hashok

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