My left pinky hurts due to repetitively pressing the C button when using Emacs org mode. Not working with Emacs is out of the question, but it needs some rest.
I would like to change theC key for something else for a while. Could I use, say, the ',' button instead?
Emacs pinky is a common issue, there are severals way to deal with it:
You can check emacs wiki to see how other users do. https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/RepeatedStrainInjury
You can define a key that applies a modifier to the next key in Emacs.
(define-key function-key-map "," 'event-apply-control-modifier)
(global-unset-key ",")
(defun insert-comma (count)
(interactive "*p")
(insert-char ?, count))
(global-set-key [(control ?,)] 'insert-comma)
(global-unset-key "\e,")
(global-set-key [(control meta ?,)] 'tags-loop-continue)
Then pressing , then a is equivalent to pressing Ctrl+a. Press , twice to insert a comma.
There are limitations. Ctrl+Shift bindings work if you press , then Shift+key, but for meta you can't press Esc then , then key. If a mode defines its own binding for , or Ctrl+, or Meta+, then it will override the comma-as-a-modifier bindings. Inserting a comma is no longer a self-insert, which has a few consequences (the same as making a character electric) such as breaking undo sequences, not necessarily doing what you'd expect from a self-insert to the selection, etc.
I don't think there's a way to apply this to a specific mode. You can apply it to a specific terminal (but not to a specific window on a GUI) with local-function-key-map but I don't know if that would help you.
See also the Emacs wiki page on sticky modifiers. That doesn't do exactly what you're asking, but one of the features on this page may be an acceptable solution for you.
After using emacs for almost 10 years, I think the best way to avoid emacs pinky is to remember:
Bind the keys such that you never press two or more keys at the same time with one hand!
This completely eliminates any hand problems I used to have.
For example, C-x should always be pressed like this: C (right hand) - x(left hand)
Using space or caplock to replace control will delay but not completely prevent your hand problems. The only way to prevent them is to never press two keys at the same time with one hand.
Use the CTRL Key! My professor showed me this in college and I have been using this kbd mapping ever since on any system I use.
Excellent Link: EmacsWiki: Moving the CTRL Key
I just realized that I have used the Ring Finger to press the Ctrl key and that has worked all these years of emacs experience. Hopefully that could mean a new beginning for you.
This problem is actually solved in year 2012 when EVIL is mature.
Simple solution,
Please use Spacemacs+Evil. Vim key bindings make sure you type less keys when dealing with text. Use space as leader key so you don't need move finger from its default position too frequently.
In other words, if you don't use key like Ctrl/Alt/Shift/Win/Cmd/Esc, you solve the problem from root cause.
Advanced solution,
Please use Evil. Then measure your frequency of key pressing by using package keyfreq.
See http://blog.binchen.org/posts/how-to-be-extremely-efficient-in-emacs.html for tech details.
If you want to start optimization immediately without using keyfreq, here is my one year data you can use,
https://gist.github.com/redguardtoo/99e69fe3ecfccadeacdb6f1c40978b0c
This solution works on any environment. It also immediately speedup you productivity so you can code much faster. In summary, there is NO side effect at all.
BTW, at the beginning, you only need optimize top 20 commands.
6008 13.33% evilmi-jump-items %, <visual-state> %, <normal-state> %
4292 9.53% winum-select-window-2 , 2, M-2
3806 8.45% winum-select-window-1 , 1, M-1
2522 5.60% switch-to-shell-or-ansi-term , x z, C-x C-z
2280 5.06% my-counsel-recentf , r r
1910 4.24% my-multi-purpose-grep , q q
1791 3.98% back-to-previous-buffer , b b
1561 3.46% winum-select-window-3 , 3, M-3
1379 3.06% counsel-etags-find-tag-at-point C-]
1222 2.71% eval-expression , e e, M-:, M-ESC :
1153 2.56% evil-visualstar/begin-search-forward <visual-state> *
971 2.16% my-evil-goto-definition g t
793 1.76% copy-to-x-clipboard , a a
654 1.45% pop-tag-mark C-t
633 1.40% counsel-imenu , i i
616 1.37% paste-from-x-clipboard , z z
539 1.20% winum-select-window-4 , 4, M-4
522 1.16% toggle-full-window , f f
420 0.93% evil-toggle-input-method C-\
371 0.82% git-add-current-file , v a
322 0.71% evilnc-comment-or-uncomment-lines , c i, M-;
302 0.67% backward-delete-char-untabify
295 0.65% my-split-window-vertically , x 2, C-x 2
285 0.63% find-file-in-project-by-selected , k k
279 0.62% delete-other-windows , x 1, , s 1, C-w C-o, C-w o, C-x 1, <menu-bar> <file> <one-window>
278 0.62% langtool-goto-next-error , l l
273 0.61% find-function , h f, C-h C-f, <f1> C-f, <help> C-f
270 0.60% kill-buffer , x k, C-x k
261 0.58% my-split-window-horizontally , x 3, C-x 3
251 0.56% narrow-or-widen-dwim , w w
235 0.52% counsel-find-file , x f
224 0.50% winner-undo , u u, C-c <left>, C-x 4 u
203 0.45% beginning-of-defun , b f, <C-M-home>, C-M-a, ESC <C-home>
202 0.45% c-electric-backspace
201 0.45% evil-a-paren
190 0.42% counsel-describe-variable C-h v, <f1> v, <help> v
187 0.42% org-shifttab
187 0.42% wg-create-workgroup SPC s s
186 0.41% evil-surround-region <visual-state> S
155 0.34% ffip-diff-find-file
154 0.34% flyspell-goto-next-error , f e
153 0.34% counsel-etags-find-tag , f t
152 0.34% ivy-switch-buffer-by-pinyin , x b
