Comment by skidd0 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by skidd0 | Hacker News Reader

When I started getting some RSI from coding all day, I looked for solutions. I ultimately settled on a split keyboard (separating the left and right hand more, less cramped in front at odd wrist angles) with a bunch of thumb keys (to act as modifiers, much easier to use than pinkie based mods) and a folding tripod stand for each so i could "tent" each keyboard out at an angle that matched my natural resting hand posture. That and a wrist pad completely resolved any RSI/tension I had.

With QMK, I was able to setup a nice set of keyboard layers for regular use, gaming, and multimedia control. For any keyboard power users, it's a dream! My hands are always in home row and everything is a simple finger movement/chord away.

Link to the build kit I used: https://splitkb.com/products/kyria-rev3-pcb-kit

Hmm that's interesting to me. I'm currently on a Planck EZ, I like it but would like my hands a little further apart, and the idea of using my thumb for more modifiers is definitely interesting.

Had a look at the Corne but didn't want to lose keys (not interested in homerow mods, and I like having keys like ctrl on both sides of the board). Kyria might be the thing for me..

Yes exactly! All my mods are mirrored on both keyboards (except left pinkie shift).

You lose the number row with the Kyria, but I have all my numbers and symbols available with a simple thumb press. A fair trade.

What language programming gives you RSI? I spend around 50 times the time thinking and navigating than typing code. And with LLM completion I barely type nowadays.

I thought RSI was mostly for documentation writers and emails people.

Ref: programming for 25+ years. I only had problems when my posture was bad. Lucky I guess.

if everything you do is move over stuff from the whiteboard to the computer yeah you wont type much.

but that’s not the kind of programming that exists, there’s a lot of trench digging.

I was writing mainly JavaScript all day. The main culprit was my wrist posture. They were squeezed together in front of me and at an awkward, flat angle while typing. Even with a sit/stand desk, multiple breaks, etc. the pain would build up over the day.

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