HHKB Mac: CTRL vs CMD vs FN

[TopreFan333]

What about switching the FN and CTRL keys on an HHKB for Mac use?

Hear me out:

-- one of the main features of the HHKB layout is that the CTRL key is promoted to the left of the A. This is probably great on a PC, where CTRL is pretty much analogous to CMD on a Mac, and used very frequently. But on a Mac, CTRL is much less frequently used in most applications. It comes up now and then, but CMD is your primary command key.

-- the FN key is all-important on a HHKB because of that FN layer, but it's in a somewhat less-easily accessible spot than the CTRL key. I know you get used to it, but still, it's a smaller key and it's way down at the bottom

So now I'm wondering about swapping the two. I'm early in my HHKB learning curve so I could still make the switch. Any other Mac HHKB users out there have thoughts or have maybe made this switch?

A second idea would be to switch the CTRL key and CMD key, in effect "promoting" the CMD key as the PC-centric HHKB layout does now...

[Sygaldry]

What about switching the FN and CTRL keys on an HHKB for Mac use?

Hear me out:

-- one of the main features of the HHKB layout is that the CTRL key is promoted to the left of the A. This is probably great on a PC, where CTRL is pretty much analogous to CMD on a Mac, and used very frequently. But on a Mac, CTRL is much less frequently used in most applications. It comes up now and then, but CMD is your primary command key.

-- the FN key is all-important on a HHKB because of that FN layer, but it's in a somewhat less-easily accessible spot than the CTRL key. I know you get used to it, but still, it's a smaller key and it's way down at the bottom

So now I'm wondering about swapping the two. I'm early in my HHKB learning curve so I could still make the switch. Any other Mac HHKB users out there have thoughts or have maybe made this switch?

A second idea would be to switch the CTRL key and CMD key, in effect "promoting" the CMD key as the PC-centric HHKB layout does now...

On my Mac I have my Control key set to CMD to sort of emulate its behavior on Windows. The only shortcoming is when I'm working in Terminal and need to actually use the Control key as opposed to the CMD key. Not a huge problem though, considering the benefits I get from having CMD in the CapsLock position for everyday browsing and word processing and what not.

[saturnotaku]

What about switching the FN and CTRL keys on an HHKB for Mac use?

Hear me out:

-- one of the main features of the HHKB layout is that the CTRL key is promoted to the left of the A. This is probably great on a PC, where CTRL is pretty much analogous to CMD on a Mac, and used very frequently. But on a Mac, CTRL is much less frequently used in most applications. It comes up now and then, but CMD is your primary command key.

So now I'm wondering about swapping the two. I'm early in my HHKB learning curve so I could still make the switch. Any other Mac HHKB users out there have thoughts or have maybe made this switch?

A second idea would be to switch the CTRL key and CMD key, in effect "promoting" the CMD key as the PC-centric HHKB layout does now...

The keyboard preference pane in OS X gives you the option to swap command, control, alt, and caps lock among each other as you see fit. It's particularly handy for mechanical keyboards that don't have dip switches to alter the layout in hardware.

-- the FN key is all-important on a HHKB because of that FN layer, but it's in a somewhat less-easily accessible spot than the CTRL key. I know you get used to it, but still, it's a smaller key and it's way down at the bottom

I like where the Fn key is because all of the functions I use with it (arrow keys, pg up, pg down, etc) can be done with one hand.

[TopreFan333]

On my Mac I have my Control key set to CMD to sort of emulate its behavior on Windows. The only shortcoming is when I'm working in Terminal and need to actually use the Control key as opposed to the CMD key. Not a huge problem though, considering the benefits I get from having CMD in the CapsLock position for everyday browsing and word processing and what not.

Interesting. Do you have both the command keys on either side of the spacebar set to CTRL? Did you do this through a DIP switch or through software?

[TopreFan333]

I like where the Fn key is because all of the functions I use with it (arrow keys, pg up, pg down, etc) can be done with one hand.

That's a good point. I thought of that too. Might be smarter to not mess with the FN!

[Sygaldry]

On my Mac I have my Control key set to CMD to sort of emulate its behavior on Windows. The only shortcoming is when I'm working in Terminal and need to actually use the Control key as opposed to the CMD key. Not a huge problem though, considering the benefits I get from having CMD in the CapsLock position for everyday browsing and word processing and what not.

Interesting. Do you have both the command keys on either side of the spacebar set to CTRL? Did you do this through a DIP switch or through software?

I used both the dip switch and the Mac keyboard setting.
Makes it so that no matter what computer I'm using, I have about the same functionality.