Red/blue semiergonomic Halmak keyboard layout

Semiergonomic because when your keyboard is embedded in a rectangle, the word "ergonomic" can't be used without irony.

Video overview: https://youtu.be/92pRAQeRIak

Key points in layout design

• Letters arrangement is Halmak;
• BLUE and RED add two (actually six) extra layers and are intended to be held with thumbs;
• BLUE for navigation/actions, RED for symbols, Shift+RED for emoji (see below), and BLUE+RED usually acts like BLUE+Ctrl
• CapsLock is swapped with Escape (here is why);
• Enter (aka Return), Backspace and arrows may now be pressed without any finger movements at all;
• Enter/Escape/Backspace/Delete are intentionally placed under your left hand. Neat for GUI applications (e.g. web browser) that force you to hold a mouse with your right hand;
• Symbols on the RED layer are arranged based on their frequency in C++ and Bash. Mnemonics isn't taken into account, only the convenience/frequency;
• No need for Ctrl anymore! See "ctrl remaps" image below;
• Instead of pressing Alt+Tab an unpredictable amount of times to switch between windows, you use BLUE+key to jump to the target workspace directly (Chrome, Terminal, IDE, Telegram etc.);
• 0 and 1 are the most used number symbols in programming. They're copied to the RED layer to be conveniently typed in expressions like if (i != 0) {. Notice that your thumb is holding the RED key during the entire != 0) { part, and you never have to reach the number row;
• Most workspace-related keys are multi-functional, e.g. the "Browser" key (BLUE+H) will:
  • Open the browser, if it's not yet opened;
  • Go to browser workspace and set focus on it, if it is opened;
  • Open a new tab, if the focus is already on the browser.

In-depth overview

Essential actions

Tabs navigation

All keys that redirect to Ctrl+something

Workspaces, windows, launchers

Media buttons (playerctl)

VIM configuration

My Halmak .vimrc is not mnemonic-based anymore. It is instead efficiency-based: most prominent actions are mapped to most accessible keys. No ctrl is used. Shift usage is also minimised.

Vimium C, zathura, less

Consistent keybindings in all apps