this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Mechanical Keyboards

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Why do so many split keyboards not have "F" keys? (programming.dev)
submitted 1 week ago by 0101100101@programming.dev to c/mechanical_keyboards@programming.dev
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Undoubtedly, programmers are a major user of keyboards, and IDE developers love function keys for esoteric shortcuts for debugging, moving around, and running code. So why do so many split keyboards not actually have the function keys.

I think makers are missing out a huge audience.

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[–] 0101100101@programming.dev 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

But some f key shorcuts already need ctrl + alt/shift pressing so you don't have many options for switching to a different layer.

[–] Uebercomplicated@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

I use Extend by Dreymar which includes the alt, shift, and even control keys. This lets me almost exclusively use the homerow for key binds, which is great if you're on a laptop keyboard or similar.

[–] tyler@programming.dev 2 points 1 week ago

My shift and layer switch are both under my thumb so I can hit cmd+ opt/ctrl + shift + layer shift and an F key all at once with only 4 fingers.