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Comment by FridgeSeal | Hacker News Reader

I have a Moonlander and I genuinely don’t understand why so many split keyboards do this.

“Here’s a really nice split keyboard. But we’ve removed everything except the alphanumerics”

Whhhyyyy.

“Oh but it’s programmable. And you can have layers. And you can have macros”

Cool. I actually didn’t want any of that. I just wanted a single row of function keys. My Moonlander can somehow make space for a “meh” key, a “caps word” key, 3 keys in 2 variations for “change layer” but a play/pause/ volume keys are simply out of the question.

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I completely agree. Moonlander would be perfect with a F key row and dedicated modifier keys. The purists will sneer, but they could always take off the keycaps and switches if they want to show off how minimal they are.

I don't spend all my time in vim, my job is mostly emails and docs now. Muscle memory decays for all the fancy chords/layers/macros/etc and I don't have infinite time to spend tweaking keyboard layouts.

I added a numeric layer where my left thumb activates the layer key and the numbers are arranged like a numpad on my right half. The dedicated number keys at the top row are now f keys. Highly recommend

Interesting idea. Thanks

That's an interesting idea. But it makes other key combinations quadruple buckies. For instance, in JetBrains IDEs Ctrl-Shift-4 sets bookmark number 4.

You don't need infinite time, you just need to do it until you get all your personal needs covered.

Personally I have an advantage 360 pro. The only function keys I actually use with frequency are F12 and F2, used for shortcuts in editors. I just put F12 and F2 on thumb keys. Problem solved.

Some people go all in on layers, but I actually use minimal layers at all. I can do everything I need with just the base layer from how I have it setup. I only have a second layer setup that allows using VIM-like navigation (i.e. up, down, left, right, page-down, page-up etc) from the home row in my browser. But technically I also have those on the base layer just in the normal positions.

I actually had a similar mindset, I do not want to have to create tons of layers and combinations, so I optimized my layout around just the base layout but added a layer just for convenience later on.

Onions have layers. Cakes have layers. Ogres have layers. I do not want layers on my keyboard.

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