Kill the Caps Lock

On modern keyboards the Caps Lock key is undeniably the least useful key.

It was fine on the IBM 84-key keyboard where you had CTRL in its place.
Where did we go so wrong?

It likely has given developers more anger attacks than anything else in existence.

Yet, despite this, on traditional modern keyboards it is sandwiched right between Tab and Shift keys, some of the most used keys.

Remap the Caps Lock

You should remap the Caps Lock key.

It's horrible.

No one uses it.

Even in situations you think you would use it, you forget about it and you just hold down shift while typing.

The key I've remapped it to is CTRL, due to me being a Vim user, and it being the key most commonly used in shortcuts with Tab / Shift (and to honor the IBM 5170 ).

With Caps Lock gone there's no more accidental screaming at your co-workers, and if remapped to CTRL, it is a lot easier to navigate applications with just your keyboard.

Programming oriented keyboards

Most developers already use some super funky mechanical keyboards that feel nice to type on for prolonged periods of time and cost way more than they should, but there's certain keyboard designs that are more specifically designed for developer needs.

One of such keyboards, and my personal favorite, is the Happy Hacking Keyboard (HHKB for short).

It is a lot smaller than normal keyboards.

In-fact, it has completely removed the Caps Lock, moved CTRL in its place.
Then those madlads proceeded to remove the entire function key row, along with arrow & a few other keys.

To activate keys such as Caps Lock or function keys, they must be combined with the FN key.

Along with all that, some other, less used keys, are moved around a bit as well.

Sounds dreadful, right? Well, you'd be surprised.

• Due to CTRL being moved in place of Caps Lock, you will notice that your pinky finger is a lot less strained.

• Due to the tilde key being moved it leaves more space for the shift key.

• Due to you having to combine the FN key with / / : / ' / [ to use arrow keys, you will find that it's a lot quicker and less awkward to use them.

• Topre switches. There's not many mechanical keyboards who use them, and they feel amazing.

Also, as mentioned before, none of the keys are actually gone, you just need to use FN key in combination with other keys to access them.

There are many more ergonomics & efficiency related reasons why the HHKB keyboard is great for developers, but it's not the only such keyboard.

In-fact, there's different manufacturers who are producing keyboards with the HHKB & similar layouts, such as ai03 keyboards.

Conclusion

Please remap the Caps Lock key.
Please please please.

Are you also advocating for some keyboard? Please share in the comments!

Happy keyboarding !