Hello GeekHack !
I'm a french software developper and keyboard enthusiast.
2008 : first mechanical keyboard, a blank ISO "Das Keyboard III" with black switches, which I loved, but my gf didn't like the noise (it woke her up a couple times, in a different room).
2011 : I discovered
Bépo (french dvorak) and ergonomical ortholinear keyboards, I switched to a blank TypeMatrix 2030, my current keyboard at home, at work, and on the go. I would have prefered a mechanical one like truly ergonomic, but it seemed too costly to try at the time. I learned bépo, orthogonal typematrix layout, and touch typing altogether. I loved it ! I regret starting the 3 the same day though. I'm not sure which of these 3 things have the most impact, and I'm not comfortable typing bépo on staggered keyboards or azerty on ortholinear ones. If you want to understand the impact of a new thing, never change more than one thing at a time !
I
customized my bépo layout 3 times, using some hacks to change some of the typematrix keys placements too (right control became an enter key, etc).
2015 : After 4 years, my typematrix start to be less reliable (some keys don't work once a week), and I want to be able to really chose my physical layout, like moving arrows to a fn layer. And, of course, back to mechanical !
I think someday I will take one of the future ergodox successor, the
Axios and the
K80CS / Katy are promising. During the waiting time, I'm creating a custom ortholinear 60% keyboard, easy to carry and easy to use on the go (monobloc). My inspirations are mainly the typematrix and the planck.
To be continued !
