News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Switching from QWERTY to Colemak and Back by __mharrison__ on Friday May 19, 2023 @07:53PM (#36008104)
The secret is to learn an alternate keyboard layout on a keyboard with a different physical layout.

I switched to an ergodox when they came out with the Norman layout. (I started using a Lily 58 earlier this year with the same layout.)

I can still do decently on staggered layouts (with qwerty) when I need to.

I'm not a musician but I figure this is similar to playing different instruments.

Re:Switching from QWERTY to Colemak and Back by breckenedge on Friday May 19, 2023 @11:40PM (#36009165)
Same here. I switch pretty effortlessly between Colemak (Miryoku) on a Corne and QWERTY everywhere else.
Re:Switching from QWERTY to Colemak and Back by gary_bernhardt on Friday May 19, 2023 @11:45PM (#36009196)
I second this.

I switched to Dvorak on regular staggered keyboards and got to 80-90 WPM or so, but pretty much lost my ability to QWERTY.

Then I switched back to QWERTY full time for 5+ years.

Then I switched to Norman on an ErgoDox, getting to 80-90 WPM or so again. This time around, I could still QWERTY on a staggered keyboard just fine. Night and day vs. the first attempt.

(Then I switched back to QWERTY again. Now I can't Dvorak or Norman or ErgoDox!)

Re:Switching from QWERTY to Colemak and Back by __mharrison__ on Saturday May 20, 2023 @12:30AM (#36009394)
Why did you switch back to qwerty?
Re:Switching from QWERTY to Colemak and Back by gary_bernhardt on Saturday May 20, 2023 @03:30PM (#36014829)
I switched off of Dvorak because of vim, and because keyboard shortcuts in general were so awkward. Shortcuts are better in Norman, but vim is still awkward.
Re:Switching from QWERTY to Colemak and Back by ShaddyDC on Saturday May 20, 2023 @02:37AM (#36009852)
For me, while I did learn colemak on a different physical layout, my typing speed on qwertz still plummeted. Maybe the difference wasn't large enough because it was just a columnar layout and not a split design. I spent a couple of months using both regularly though, and now I can comfortably switch between them.
Re:Switching from QWERTY to Colemak and Back by imajoo on Saturday May 20, 2023 @03:33AM (#36010073)
+1 to this. I switched to a Kinesis ergo and typed qwerty for a while, then switched to Dvorak. When I got my Moonlander I kept it Dvorak and haven't had any issues with going back to qwerty on normal keyboards.