> UK and Netherlands use an international keyboard with a tilda ~ key where the return key should be, and a backslash key where the left shift should be.

That is actually the original IBM PC XT layout from 1981: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_Model_F_XT.png

Then in 1984 USA moved to their own layout with the PC AT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_Model_F_AT.png

But the rest of the world stayed with the original.

>> How often is that tilda needed? That is a poor trade.

That tilda is needed every time I need to access my home directory on Linux, and the backslash key is also a pipe key when you press shift - so I can use a pipe in command line using a single hand.

I actually come from a country with US keyboard by-default. Now, whenever possible - I switch to UK layout even on MacBooks. UK layout is actually wonderful for development.

I can obviously see though why one can ask why is it this way.

Seriously, are you suggesting that you reference your home directory so often that it is a more frequent need than hitting Return?

Every single command you type ends with return. Unless you are typing long paragraphs in a word processor with line wrapping, you will be hitting return once every 80 characters or less on average (much less in the case of commands). Do you really need to reference a unix home directory once every 80 characters you type?

But I do have a return key, don't I? I don't particularly care about the size of the keys since I will remember their placement anyway, by a certain time.

I do care about their placement, however - since that's where my fingers are physically limited.

Which left hand keys can't you reach while pressing left shift? (I can quite comfortably reach up to J column with my index finger, at which point it's about 50-50 which Shift to use if I have to navigate left-handed.)

Also, being used to it, I find a large Enter key more convenient than a wide one.

I will accept that adapting to a reduced width left shift is possible, but I cannot accept the suggestion that a taller return key has any value.

Unless you are doing something really "interesting", you should be hitting return with your right pinky finger. And assuming your other fingers are on the home row, your pinky finger has an easier reach to the US return key (on the left edge) than it would the international return key on the row above.

Now, if you suggested expanding the return key to exist where the { key does, then I could agree that it was an improvement. { is immediately accessible to a right pinky finger, and arguably { is less often needed than return - even in programming.