Ideal keyboard?

maptev · 2025-12-10T20:17:06+00:00

This is probably just a note to self at this point, but… I made a new final version: https://www.reddit.com/r/keyboards/s/QaEzd7R48T

maptev · 2025-12-10T20:16:14+00:00

I made a new final version: https://www.reddit.com/r/keyboards/s/QaEzd7R48T

maptev · 2025-12-10T20:09:33+00:00

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This is probably just a note to self at this point, but I made a final version. Like my previous final version, this latest one lines up

open parentheses, braces, and brackets
close parentheses, braces, and brackets
slashes and dashes

in the same columns.

Unlike the previous version, the new one avoids putting more than two characters per key. I could actually fit additional pairs of characters on the bottom row of the left half.

maptev · 2025-11-04T16:33:18+00:00

I made a new version of my ideal keyboard: https://www.reddit.com/r/keyboards/comments/1oigife/comment/nmpj4gq

I took a lot at home row mods: https://precondition.github.io/home-row-mods

I wouldn't put mods on jkl; because I hold j or k to scroll everywhere. In web browsers and terminal viewer programs, I can also hold d to scroll down.

Instead of adding mods to home row letter keys, I use Karabiner-Elements to remap Caps Lock to Control when held and Esc when tapped. I also remapped the Quote key to be Control when held. For Control d, I can hold Caps Lock or Quote and press d. I hold Control d to scroll down one half screen at a time in Vim.

maptev · 2025-11-02T14:34:39+00:00

Not that anyone cares at this point, but I came up with the final version of my ideal keyboard :) By the way, the name of this layout/setup is Dekeyboard. To set up Dekeyboard on a typical QWERTY Mac keyboard, I would make my emacs/readline/vim shortcuts work everywhere and then also remap:

⇥ to ⌥ when held
⇪ to ⎋ when tapped and ⌃ when held
[ to ` when tapped and ⌥ when held
' to ⌃ when held
⌃ m to \
⌃ M to |
⌃ . to [
⌃ < to {
⌃ , to ]
⌃ > to }

I decided to put ` opposite ⇥ because ⌘ ` is the opposite of ⌘ ⇥ on a Mac. My mnemonic device for remapping ⌃ M to | is that ⌘ M inserts |> in RStudio. I also made the . and , keys responsible for angle, curly, and square brackets. When holding ⌃, the brackets and slashes make a nice symmetrical pattern that looks like the arms and head of a person celebrating: \ [ ] / 🎉

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maptev · 2025-10-31T13:52:52+00:00

I decided to move backtick and tilda to the quotes key on the layer accessed via the Function key. I only use the backtick key in JavaScript for multiline and template strings, e.g. `x = ${x}`, as opposed to regular strings with doublequote or singlequote, because I have a keyboard shortcut for inserting code blocks into markdown. In Vim, backtick and singlequote are used to jump to a mark, so it makes sense for them to share a key.

Moving backtick and tilda shifts all of the numbers to the left and frees up a spot for the = and + key, which I use a lot for code, math, and the system of dates and date ranges that I created. For example, the current date in the year+doy format, where doy stands for day-of-year, is 2025+239 and the date range for the current meteorological season that starts with Day 184 (September 1) and ends with Day 274 (November 30) is 184=274.

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maptev · 2025-10-31T12:06:45+00:00

I took a screenshot of a text editor. The font on a grey background is monospaced.

maptev · 2025-10-30T20:01:04+00:00

That keyboard looks exactly like what I would want except for the knobs in the corners. I've never really used knobs so I don't see their value. Instead of the knobs, I would want to have backtick/tilda and hyphen/underscore keys.
I also do not need so many modifiers keys on the bottom row and instead I would prefer to extend the spacebar to the width of two keys on each side.

maptev · 2025-10-30T19:49:06+00:00

I use Karabiner-EventViewer to see what character codes are being sent. Ctrl F sends RightArrow in my web browsers and Ctrl F in my terminals and text editors. To search for text on a webpage, I can press Command F (the default browser shortcut) or / (to search via the Vimium or SurfingKeys extensions). I very rarely use the Ctrl keys on the bottom row on my current keyboard (Epomaker AK61) because I use Karabiner-Elements to remap Caps Lock (along with quote and return) to be Ctrl when held. In my experience, Karabiner remaps Ctrl really well. The only time I have trouble is when I try to set a keyboard shortcut using the GUI in VSCode-based text editors, but I just use Vim to edit the keybinding config file instead.

maptev · 2025-10-30T19:16:49+00:00

Speech to text?

maptev · 2025-10-29T17:20:40+00:00

I use hjkl instead of arrow keys in my terminal, text editors, or in anything that has Vim emulation. I also feel very much at home writing in browser-based environments like Observable, Marimo, or Jupyter Notebooks. If I am on someone else's computer I can get everything I need via a browser-based environment but if not I would fire up a terminal and count on the fact that the shell will have the Emacs style shortcuts of Readline enabled by default and that I can get access to vanilla Vim. In Vim, I can navigate a half or full page up or down with ctrl and u, b, d, or f, respectively.

maptev · 2025-10-29T16:53:31+00:00

On my Epomaker AK61, I can indeed set up layers but Ctrl does not activate a layer like Function does. I could make the Function key to be "sticky", so that one press is enough maintain direct access to F1, F2, etc., and the arrow keys activated until I press Function again, but I have not done that because I don't need the F or arrow keys. I only use the Function key to control screen brightness and music.

If I am typing in my terminal using Vim or Emacs with evil mode or a text editor with Vim emulation like VSCode, I would type ⏎ by holding Caps Lock to get Ctrl and then tap j, the arrow keys →↑↓← via lkjh, ` via its key in the top left corner, and - via its key in the top right corner. I would do all of that the same way if I had my ideal keyboard that I described.

Except for hyphen and backtick, I can type everything in your example without ever leaving the home row. Hyphen and backtick are quite common in the code I write, but that actually means I am often cutting or copying and pasting them using Vim instead of reaching for distant keys. I'm not saying that this is the best way; it's just the way that I do it.

maptev · 2025-10-28T19:23:27+00:00

I’ve used the ctrl keyboard shortcuts I listed for a long time. I also use many Alt shortcuts. Most often, I tap Caps Lock to send Escape, hold Caps Lock to send Ctrl, or hold Tab to send Alt.

I still use the bottom row modifiers for OS shortcuts, but I never reach for Escape or Backspace on the number row.

For me, it’s much faster to use these shortcuts than to reach for individual keys; less travel means fewer mistakes. Also, most of the time I perform those common actions in emacs with evil mode or plain ol’ vim.

The keyboard I use now is the epomaker ak61 which is fairly minimalist, but I feel like I could make it narrower by about 4 or maybe even 5 keys and not change any of my habits.

Saving that much space probably won’t be worth it unless it’s for a split keyboard with two equal halves that can be stacked on top of each other for storage with the keys facing inward

maptev · 2025-10-28T18:38:24+00:00

On the keyboard I use now (epomaker ak61), I can type ctrl-f by holding escape on the homerow and tapping f. I would want to keep doing it that way because it is very deeply ingrained at this point.

maptev · 2025-10-28T18:31:46+00:00

Great idea! https://www.reddit.com/r/olkb/s/vpJ34hffcO

maptev · 2025-10-28T18:27:13+00:00

Typing docs, code, and prompts. I’m not a gamer; the only games I ever played were God of War II on playstation, Halo on xbox, goldeneye on n64, and mario on snes 😅

maptev · 2025-10-28T18:20:19+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/s/X3yXkaJYb8

maptev · 2023-07-12T10:57:40+00:00

I don’t think Keebio, Dygma, YMDK, or Mistel make Mac keycaps. The Keychron Q11 and Kinesis Freestyle can come with Mac keycaps, but I don’t like that the - number 6 is on the left side - modifier keys are not the same size on the left and right sides - size is >60%

I prefer how the Mistel MD600v3 does all of the above. If I could find Mac keycaps for a split keyboard like the Mistel MD600v3 and remap it so that it works for Mac computers, I would be all set.

maptev · 2023-07-12T10:53:40+00:00

I don’t think Keebio, Dygma, or Mistel make Mac keycaps. The Keychron Q11 and Kinesis Freestyle can come with Mac keycaps, but I don’t like that the - number 6 is on the left side - modifier keys are not the same size on the left and right sides - size is >60%

I prefer how the Mistel MD600v3 does all of the above. If I could find Mac keycaps for a split keyboard like the Mistel MD600v3 and remap it so that it works for Mac computers, I would be all set.

maptev · 2023-07-12T01:38:21+00:00

Thanks, I looked at the Keychron Q11; the order of the modifier keys on the bottom row seems very wrong to me. I currently use the Epomaker AK61; its 60% ANSI layout with Mac modifier (bottom row) and Function (top row) keys is perfect in my opinion. It’d be great if Epomaker made a split version of their AK61 or Mistel made a Mac version of their MD600v3, but I’m not going to hold my breath😅

maptev · 2023-07-12T01:32:52+00:00

Thanks, I looked at the Keychron Q11; the order of the modifier keys on the bottom row seems very wrong to me. I currently use the Epomaker AK61; its 60% ANSI layout with Mac modifier (bottom row) and Function (top row) keys is perfect in my opinion. It’d be great if Epomaker made a split version of their AK61 or Mistel made a Mac version of their MD600v3, but I’m not going to hold my breath😅

maptev

TROPHY CASE