This idea started forming when I first switched to an alternate keyboard layout.
After experimenting with Dvorak which an old roommate, now friend, of mine had used for years, I even skipped over Colemak after buying in, briefly, to the arguments for Workman in regards to lateral movement. As someone who has played piano and guitar for years, this sideways movement doesn't seem to bother me nearly as much as I was initially led to believe it would.
After having used Workman exclusivly for over a month. I tried Colemak and almost instantly preferred how roll-ey and overall comfortable it felt.
Pronounced /'ko:lmæk/ (Coal-Mac) named after its creator, Shai Coleman.
The fact that it comes pre-installed on both macOS and iOS gives it a certain amount of credibility in my eyes.
QWERTY: Hello, this is what it feels like to type this sentence in Colemak!
Colemak: Hkuu;, fhld ld whaf lf ekkud ulnk f; fork fhld dkjfkjck lj C;ukman!
Anyway, with the use of the Colemak Layout, it is standard to re-map the underutilized Caps Lock key to Backspace.
I've also heard of Vim users Mapping Esc to Caps Lock but that's neither here nor there.
The idea of minimizing the distance I have to reach for backspace was intriguing but I found that
- It was very difficult to remap that gesture.
- As I got better at touch typing, I used backspace a lot less.
- I hardly ever use Caps Lock.
This setup kinda reminds me of the western style of horseback riding, where you push the reins against the side of the face you wish the horse to turn towards.
Since regular Backspace is on the right pinkie, then it makes sense for its opposite to be on the left pinkie.
The only free-app I'm aware of that can first remap the caps lock key is Karabiner-Elements.app
I think this can also be done with the paid-app BetterTouchTool.app
To extend the same 'by word' and 'by line' functions that command and option add to normal backspace, I use Hammerspoon.app
Install with Homebrew
brew install karabiner-elements
brew install hammerspoon
To get Caps Lock remapped to backspace including autorepeat:
System Preferences → Keyboard → Keyboard → Modifier Keys ... → set Caps Lock to 'No Action'
Karabiner-Elements.app → Settings → Simple Modifications
+Add Item: 'caps_lock' -------> 'delete_forward'
Append these lines of code to your Hammerspoon config
located: ~/.hammerspoon/init.lua
-- forward delete by word
hs.hotkey.bind({'option'}, 'forwarddelete', function()
hs.eventtap.keyStroke({'option' , 'shift'}, 'right')
hs.eventtap.keyStroke({}, 'delete')
end)
-- forward delete by line
hs.hotkey.bind({'cmd'}, 'forwarddelete', function()
hs.eventtap.keyStroke({'cmd' , 'shift'}, 'right')
hs.eventtap.keyStroke({}, "delete")
end)
-- Vim esc (this is me hoping I start using Vim or Spacemacs)
hs.hotkey.bind({'shift'}, 'forwarddelete', function()
hs.eventtap.keyStroke({},'escape')
end)
✅ be sure to reload you Hammerspoon config 👍
delete this letter as normal - A
B - use C.L. to forward delete that letter
use option to delete this word - Cat
Dog - now forward delete that word
delete this entire line
forward delete this entire line