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JOURNAL FOR FRIDAY 4TH APRIL, 2014
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SUBJECT: A keyboard reserved for hand to hand combat
DATE: Fri 4 Apr 22:53:20 BST 2014
On Tuesday my boss came back from seeing a client and gave me an old keyboard.
Not just any old keyboard, a 1988 1391406 IBM Model M[1]. I spent over 15
years working on IBM AS/400 systems and loved these mechanical keyboards on
terminals like the IBM 3477... *nostalgic sigh*
So I grabbed an old PC, did a very minimal Debian install and setup a text
terminal for myself. A good idea and it worked well but...
For the last 15 years or more I've been using a HHKB aka a Happy Hacking
keyboard. Using the Model M for typing something like this article where you
are mostly using the letter keys is fine. When using Vim and coding my hands
seem to be moving all over the place reaching for other keys, especially the
escape key which is used a lot in Vim. The difference in hand movements
between using the full sized Model M and the compact HHKB is... incredible.
Another main difference between the keyboards is the layout. The Model M has a
UK layout and the HHKB has a US and Unix layout which is much friendlier for
programmers - or at least me - to use :)
Although I love the feel and sound of the keys on the Model M I don't think
I'll be using it much. Sorry boss :(
As for working on WolfMUD I've not had much free time recently. I have done
some work on the code. In fact I'm in the middle of sorting out a number of
commits which need splitting up and reorganising. Weekend looks busy but I
may find some additional free time...
--
Diddymus
[1] The Model M is regarded as one of the most legendary keyboards ever
built[2].
[2] It is also the only keyboard that can be wielded in hand to hand combat
weighing in at 7-8lbs, mainly due to the steel plates in it :)
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