qwerty or dvorak Keyboard Layout

[Game master pro]

Heh, i didn't even know what a dvorak keyboard was until someone on irc told me. I don't think i will ever change. Why should i?

[cayalee]

didnt even know it existed till i read this forum.
i think i'd get very confused as i have to use the pc's at uni as well, i'll stick with qwerty i think

[schrepfer]

Yeah. I think that I might just be one of the unlucky ones.... I read somewhere that people have problems when they try too hard, and I am pretty sure that I am one of those people... always trying. It seems like it's impossible to break the habit, to not think about what keys I am hitting. I have some days when I wake up and can type 120 wpm and other days when I am down to 70 wpm because I struggle trying to break bad habits.

Before switching to Dvorak I could type around 95 wpm on Qwerty... I type about the same now on Dvorak but I have those issues that I mentioned in previous posts... basically the reaching for wrong keys and once and a while having my mind flip to Qwerty and hit a key in the old layout.

I still think that if you were a touch typist on Qwerty, don't bother switching.

[dcurtis]

i have been typing dvorak for about 3-4 years now and im really considering switching back to qwerty just because i have a feeling that the way they designed a lot of the text based linux apps was modeled around the qwerty layousf and im missing on a lot sf that stuff because of the way dvorak is designed. most notably is VIm all the command keys are homerow specific. the 'ls' command on dvorak requires you to actually use your right pinky twice in a row and id say that its probably the most common command i use. i love typing but the more i use linux as of late it seems like im capping my terminal navigation speed. sounds weird i know.

have any of you went dvorak for over a year then switched back? im more curios about coding too. {} [] is actually a bigger reach in dvorak. not sure. guess ill have to see how my transformation works. tid be nice to eventually know both of them.

/edit: i also find myself getting more typing errors in dvorak alot when keys are on opposite hands. like the word 'to' sometimes doesnt register right or comes out 'ot'. sometimes my keyboard doesnt send a 't' signal cause i type some words so fast.

[schrepfer]

I use the [] and {} keys a lot for coding in Java and Bourne Shell and I don't really have issues; I actually think that their placement near the numbers makes a lot more sense. Who knows... you get used to them though.....

[wizzlefish]

I've always wanted to learn Dvorak, and I think I might eventually switch, putting it on my ever-expanding book of things to do. The only thing I'm worried about is using someone else's computer. And also...not that this applies to many people...what about games? I suppose you don't use W-A-S-D on Dvorak layouts. You use <-A-O-E. But the games aren't coded to do that. So you would have to switch back to play every game.

Well, most games probably have customizable keys. Perhaps you could change them, and all would be good. I'm still worried about using other people's computers, though.

[jaboua]

I've used about all my life learning how to type fast with qwerty, so if I use some other keyboard layout, I give the backspace button about three times the number of presses the other keys get together... Last time I was in France, I used a french layout, maybe that was dvorak? I'm not sure, I only know it wasn't qwerty...