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Emacs's default keybinds are of some infamy, and RSI memes abound aplenty.
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The simple fact is that they are not very ergonomic, at least not for modern keyboard layouts.
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Luckily there's a few ways to remedy this situation.
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1. Ignore the issue entirely and pretend everything is okay
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Alternatively, get yourself some foot pedals...
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https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/FootSwitches
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2. Remap Ctrl to another button
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There were keyboards designed for writing lisp: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Space-cadet.jpg
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You'll notice that Ctrl, the most commonly used modifier key is also the closest to the spacebar.
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This means you can easily hit Ctrl with your thumb, instead of modern keyboards where you'll be straining to stretch your pinky to hit it.
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Swapping Alt and Ctrl is common.
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As is swapping Ctrl and Caps Lock (though it has some issues http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html).
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You can do this at the OS level with xmodmap, or internally in emacs if you don't want to fuck up your other keybinds.
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Globally via an xmodmap file:
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Globally via setxkbmap:
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Save as ~/.Xmodmap
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setxkbmap -option ctrl:swapcaps
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or
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! Swap Ctrl and Alt
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setxkbmap -option ctrl:swap_lalt_lctl
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clear control
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You may also want to have Caps Lock as Ctrl and Ctrl as Hyper key:
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clear mod1
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setxkbmap -option ctrl:swapcaps_hyper
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keycode 37 = Alt_L Meta_L
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More information: man setxkbmap and man xkeyboard-config
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keycode 105 = Alt_R Meta_R
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keycode 64 = Control_L
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keycode 108 = Control_R
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add control = Control_L Control_R
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add mod1 = Alt_L Meta_L
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;; Swap Ctrl and Alt
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;; V26+, X11 only
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(setq x-ctrl-keysym 'meta)
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! Swap Ctrl and Capslock
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remove Lock = Caps_Lock
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remove Control = Control_L
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keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock
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keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L
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add Lock = Caps_Lock
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add Control = Control_L
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3. Use an external package
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Then run `xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap`
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evil-mode: Probably the most common, as vim keys are pretty widespread and many migrants to emacs are already used to them.
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evil-collection and evil-escape are also nice mentions, as they make the vim experience a lot more consistent.
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The downside of course is that you're removing the "emacs"ness of keybinds, many prefer to stay more vanilla.
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god-mode: Unlike evil, this keeps all of emacs's keys intact, you simple map a GOD-KEY to type commands more easily.
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You simply hit your configured key, then every key you hit afterwards has C- prefixed to it.
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SPC- lets you remove C-.
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So  <C-x> <C-f> becomes GOD-KEY x f
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And <C-x> b     becomes GOD-KEY x SPC b
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xah-fly-keys: For the more adventurous, following neither emacs defaults nor vim, it maps keys on a usage based scheme.
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see for more info: http://ergoemacs.org/misc/ergoemacs_vi_mode.html
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Other links:
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https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MovingTheCtrlKey
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https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/RepeatedStrainInjury