I wonder if this is more common among Linux users. If an application has good keyboard support, I’m ALL over that instead of using a mouse. That’s one reason web applications really annoy me, they usually have terrible keyboard support, or the browser shortcuts interfere.
Maybe detest is too strong a word. More like I prefer to avoid it if at all possible (unless it’s something like CAD or most gaming where the mouse is basically essential)
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No, I’m a GUI user and the cursor will usually be more efficient for most types of tasks. Though paring it with keyboard commands usually increase the productivity significantly.
Soooo, you don’t like using a mouse except when using a mouse is easier.
rgr that
No, only when it requires it (point and shoot, point and draw). But a lot of things id much rather use a keyboard to navigate and its frustrating when there is no support for it
And yeah, you’re going to be left behind in a lot of applications because most people prefer the point and click interface to KB shortcuts. It is what it is, I guess. Can’t you just use emacs as your environment though? (I use vi, so it’s alien to me)
edit: lol, guess not
I don’t prefer one over the other, I just hate switching when I’m in a flow state.
The act of re-centering the hand on the mouse or the keyboard is costly in UI, even if we barely notice it. It can break Flow for sure.
Oh hell naw, I love to sit back, one hand resting on an arm rest, and just navigating with my mouse. Not that I mind using the keyboard, but I have a strong affinity to the mouse. I know the keyboard is “more efficient”, but I’m just more comfortable pointing at things.
I’ve never had a job where the bottleneck was the speed of translating my thoughts into commands. It’s almost always the thinking that slows me down. I’m sort of jealous of folks who deal with so few unknowns that they are limited only by speed of input (though I’d find that a mind-numbingly boring job — compared to my usual constant imposter syndrome and suspicion that there is a better way to do something than what is in my head right now).
I worked on an old CAD program in the early 90s, it had hotkeys for the menu structure. After some time ( and memorization) they became much faster than mouse clicks. When getting designs out as fast as possible, to keep the shop busy, was the mandate it led to designers flying across the keys building geometry, trimming, dimensioning etc. After about 4 years though RSI became a problem for all of use.
I have a preference towards keyboard shortcuts, but I dont think I’m in any way anti-mouse, I’m just very pro-keyboard. If there is a quick easy keyboard shortcut, I’ll almost always use it.
Honestly, back in the windows 8 days, I never understood the backlash about the start screen/menu. My workflow was “hit windows key, type name of app. hit enter” and that workflow didnt change with the full screen mobile centric menu, so it never felt problematic to me. Plenty of other problematic things about microsoft and windows, but “But the start menu is full screen!” wasnt one of them for me.
Windows key? You kids have it so easy, back in my day we had to CTRL+Esc because the Windows key wasn’t invented yet. Luckily nowadays my linux computers all come with a Super key that can be used as a stand-in for the Windows button.
In my day, the start button hasn’t been invented yet, so Ctrl esc didn’t help much. But by the time windows 8 came around, I was using that specific shortcut. I use alt+space now to invoke my launcher, because in i3wm/swaywn using super for shortcuts meant that using super for the launcher felt a bit conflicting
I use vim btw
Mouse gives me back pain. So yes, I really despise it.
I even prefer to play with a gamepad on PC when it’s possible because it feels more ergonomic for my muscles.
When games are designed for it, controllers are almost always better imo, save for when you’re trying to aim, I very much dislike thumb sticks for aiming
I liked the nipple mouse on my old Thinkpad, pretty much no effort to do a few things with the mouse in between, and the fingers are still on the keyboard.
I use both comfortably depending on the task.
git checkout dev & git pullis very easy to type.git checkout dev-CHG03451-make_sky_turquoiseis going to be way easier to mouse in my ide, but then I’ll switch right back togit merge dev:wqLinux is also my main driver, so all my (desktop) web browsing and interaction are done with a mouse. It doesn’t make sense to be all that worried about keyboard-maxing.
Preferring to avoid the mouse is a pretty common attitude among Linux users, just because keeping your hands on the keyboard is quicker.
Seriously depends on the application. Having to use a mouse to navigate three menu levels down for a function that could be done with a keyboard shortcut is a point where a mouse is the wrong tool. But try to get something done in a graohics program with keys only.
I find that Vimium makes web stuff pretty keyboard usable. There are gaps, like it often doesn’t work well with non-native drop-downs. Unfortunately Vimium does override web app shortcuts, so when you find an app that does have good shortcuts you have to register a rule to disable Vimium for that site.
I use a keyboard with an inbuilt trackpoint. I never have to move my hands off the keyboard to use the mouse, it’s really amazing.
The worst input method is definitely a touchscreen, directly followed by Apple’s magic mouse and touchpads.
I use a keyboard with an inbuilt trackpoint.
What are you using? “Tex” mechanical board, old Model M with trackpoint, one of those standalone Thinkpad keyboards?
A Thinkpad Compact Keyboard II. It’s really nice to type on. Only the stock feet are trash and break easily, but there are a lot of people 3D-printing more durable replacements.
God damn, the Magic Mouse is the worst fucking idea ever, it’s like combining a touchpad with a mouse in the worst way possible. When I was a kid, our family computer only had a Magic Mouse and I can’t count the number of times I made a misinput, scrolled too far, or had to stop using the computer until the mouse could charge
i loved the magic mouse. macos is so gesture-driven that having gesture control on a normal mouse felt like having a macro pad.
Absolutely! I was forced to work on a Mac with a Magic mouse at my first job. There was no place for my fingers to rest comfortably. I had to hover them above the mouse or otherwise the thing would always detect inputs I didn’t want.
Combined with its minimal height, it gave me quite a lot of pain. I don’t know how people can work with this atrocity.
The charging is a meme at this point, it’s really absurd. Thank god I don’t work for a boss who’s an Apple cultist anymore.
I even tried to use the mouse while it was charging by hanging half of it off the desk but apparently they made it just turn off while charging
Personally, I have challenges remembering key combinations and thus only use a few. Often, the timevitvtakes to retrieve the right keyboard equivalent takes longer than using the mouse, and often I have to use the mouse to lookup the key combo.
I need to be using a particular tool very frequently to muscle memory the key codes.
Kensington TB550 thumb trackball for any pointy/clicky stuff, keyboard otherwise.
I don’t like a real mouse, and haven’t for decades.
I got my first thumb trackball in the 1990s when I didn’t have a big enough desk to use a mouse. It was a Logitech Trackman Marble.
Then I got a Marble Wheel. Then the cordless one, then the M570 that replaced it.
But Logitech build quality has really went into the shitter, and after a warranty replacement, and then having to buy another replacement, I tried a couple of different thumb trackballs before settling on my Kensington one.
The ProtoArc EM01 I have is also nice, but I like the feel of the Kensington better.
