Re^3: Best GUI package for Perl ?

Actually I think you are totally out with regard to keyboards. Especially if you are a professional programmer and don't have specific medical reasons for avoiding Qwerty keyboards. The advantage of being able to use any machine at close to your normal typing speed is pretty clear. Sure Qwerty sucks, sure its designed to slow your typing down, but its the most common keyboard layout by far and if you cant type at touch-typing speeds on one then you are at a competitive disadvantage if you move from job to job. Many establishments have rules prohibiting the use of non-standard equipement so bringing your own wont really help.

I speak with a bit of expeience with this as I normally type on a UK layout keyboard, but I live in Germany where the layout is different, I used to even have a US keboard at home and UK at work but that just made things worse. I mistyped so often it wasnt funny. So now ive standardized on the UK layout. This puts me at a disadvantage when I use a colleagues machine or help someone out on their box. I can just imagine how much worse it would be if I didnt use a Qwerty variant.

Incidentally, I find that from an ergonomic POV German keyboards really suck for programming, and suck for programming perl even worse. The fact that all braces/brackets have to be typed with the right hand while the right thumb is pressing the alt-gr key is a total nightmare. It wouldnt suprise me if German coders (and other non-english coders with similar layouts) have above average (compared to english/american coders) levels of stuff like carpel tunnel and RSI.

---
demerphq

_{First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

-- Gandhi}

Comment on Re^3: Best GUI package for Perl ?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^4: Best GUI package for Perl ? by itub (Priest) on Jul 30, 2004 at 00:50 UTC
Spanish and Latin American keyboards also absolutely suck for programming. I always use the US layout when programming or using the command line, even if the keyboard physically has the Spanish layout. I don't look at the keys anyway. Same as in German (I assume), the problem is that all the special symbols end up as inaccessible key combinations in order to make room for the other characters and accents of the language.	[reply]
Re^4: Best GUI package for Perl ? by Juerd (Abbot) on Aug 01, 2004 at 10:19 UTC
The advantage of being able to use any machine at close to your normal typing speed is pretty clear. Many Dvorak typists type QWERTY at high speed, but not without looking at the keys. Most QWERTY keyboards have the advantage of having the symbols printed on the keys :) For those who switch computers all the time, and use more than just a few boxes, Dvorak is annoying. But if you, like me, use your own box for more than 90% of the time, consider this: 90% comfort versus 100% discomfort. By the way, KDE and Windows make switching between two layouts very easy. Sysadmins really have no good reason for disallowing Dvorak. Especially if you are a professional programmer and don't have specific medical reasons for avoiding Qwerty keyboards. Your statement is very dangerous and I hope you will take it back. It is very important to do everything to AVOID those medical reasons. I had one year of sitting at home, doing nothing (hands are needed for almost everything), having huge medical bills and no income. Dvorak is free and easy to learn (With http://www.dvorak.nl/, you can learn to touch type Dvorak in less than 10 hours), and I think everyone who uses "I don't have RSI yet" as an excuse to not have to go through the learning phase is a stupid idiot and deserves the pain thousands of others have already experienced. ... then you are at a competitive disadvantage if you move from job to job. I will not ever work full time for someone who forces me to use QWERTY. Employers who do not respect health will have to search harder for people. More and more people demand healthy work places, and it won't be long before employers can get only the worst of coders to work for them. I can just imagine how much worse it would be if I didnt use a Qwerty variant. Your imagination is fooling you. QWERTY and QWERTY and QWERTY and QWERTZ and AZERTY are very similar, which makes switching hard. Dvorak is different enough to make switching and knowing you're using the wrong layout much easier. Juerd # { site => 'juerd.nl', plp_site => 'plp.juerd.nl', do_not_use => 'spamtrap' }	[reply]


Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister
	PerlMonks