Non-figurative ones are boring, although beautiful: we had our share of those during previous editions of Plasma. But maybe they have a more corporate vibe... And they definitely are in line with current Plasma identity.

On the other hand, middle right and bottom right are really nice. I think I like middle right in particular, but it's probably too cute for me to be seen having such a wallpaper;). Bottom right it's much safer!

(That said... I will just switch to one of the "picture of the day" plugins, as usual).

Unless I am mistaken, keyd is a kernel level input remapper (like kmonad and kanata). So it is a lower level component: even if you use keyd, xkb will still be there, downstream. The situation would be roughly the same as with xmodmap... except it won't even be enough!

Indeed, this method consists in mapping scan codes to other scan codes. At this level, there is not the notion that a key produces a character yet. Hence concretely, kernel level input remapping (like QMK, btw) cannot be used to map a key to a character that is not already declared in a higher level component (usually in xkb or xcompose, but it can also be a another component using X11 API, such as xmodmap, for instance).

Edit: to make it more clear, in the end, it is the application who decides what character should be displayed. Typically, for doing so, the application relies on libraries from its toolkit, which implement either X11 or Wayland text input protocols; using standard keycode-to-character translation libraries (i.e., most notably, libxkb). To add new characters in a keymap, these characters need, in the end, to be produceable as the output of these libraries.

My first ergo split was a Kimiko (roughly the same as a Sofle v2) which also had this num row I quickly stopped using (I ended up affecting it to F keys, still useless anyway; even for switching VTs I tended to use F keys from one of the layers).

My current daily driver is a 3x6 dactyl with a 4th key under middle and ring finger columns and... a 6 keys (2 rows) thumb clusters. All 6 keys can easily be reached because of the 3D shape. I would say only a couple of keys among the 50 are not really useful, hence it is the sweet spot for me now (for a sculpted keyboard anyway; for a flat one, I have to make it work with smaller thumb clusters).

Anyway the similar layout of the thumb clusters and similar goals (Linux user; typing in French) made me want to comment :).

Very nice keyboard!

For French, I like having a 4th alphabetical key under the middle finger (for instance, move the innermost thumb key a little upward so that is contiguous with the middle finger column). This allows having all the most common characters in the main layer (also using most of the outer pinky columns for this purpose).

Otherwise does this 2 row cluster work well for you? (In particular the upper row)

Concerning the technical trick with xmodmap, I have the feeling you are adding much complexity just for the sake of using qmk's graphical configurator. Since you are already using xkb (obviously, since there isn't any serious alternative under X11 or Wayland!), why not configure everything in xkb layout? This way you can configure any existing character without any strange workaround or third party tool! Then your use qmk just for fancy stuff (layers, combos, hold-tap, ... ).

The usual argument against xkb is that you cannot bring your keyboard around and have it ready to use on any machine. But since you are using xmodmap, I assume it is not a concern for you, is it?

Kailh choc's actuation point is only 1.3mm, which is really close to Cherry MX Speed's (1.2mm).

Of course the two categories concern very different switches, but isn't this the main trait of speed switches (compared to other MX switches) ?

Facing with the same problem (not exactly: my keyboard have a few more keys than the Corne), it always felt more disruptive to me to interrupt the flow with layer switching than to stretch the pinkies to the outer column (or middle fingers to an extra row) for uncommon characters.

So I used Bépo (and now use Optimot) with very little adptations.

It implies outer column stuff must move either to thumb clusters (for the most used keys) or to layers, to give priority to letters.

Considering that you never press enter next to space, there is no same finger bigram involving these two keys, so I believe it makes sense.

I used to have space on the right, but it was pointed to me that, with my layout (for a reason I cannot remember!), space on the left would be more convenient. So I switched.

However the key symmetrical to space is not enter, but backspace, both keys being the most used in my thumb clusters (I used to have both on the same side, and it was quite bad).

Enter is on the left thumb, next to space.

Wow, I did not expect such a thorough answer!

I still only had the time to skim through it, but I believe it deserves is own post!

It's an interesting design. I wonder if that could work with high profile MX switches and keycaps.

In Dactyls, the reason keys often face inward is as to keep key tops is close to each other as possible. Facing outward would obviously have the opposite effect, but with low profile keys it is less noticeable.

Now, there is one case you really want the keys closer, it is between 2 columns belonging to the same finger.

~~Convex in the X direction, concave in Y one, it's a saddle shape, isn't it?~~

Edit. Ah no sorry it's more subtle: there is a stairway effect. The keys face outward, but those in the middle are indeed deeper!

The starting point is whether you need an ergo keyboard. Is there some specific pain point out fatigue you want to alleviate? Are there some parameters you need to fix first?

The next obligatory step, assuming you need (or want for whatever reason) an ergo keyboard, is a visit here: https://jhelvy.shinyapps.io/splitkbcompare/

Select interesting layouts, print them 1:1 scale and try placing your fingers on the print. Then you will see whether the Moonlander us for you (maybe you need to fold the sheet along the thumb cluster hinge, in the case of this keyboard), or if some other 2d layout is better.

(There will remain the question whether a 3d key well would not work better, à la kinesis advantage/dactyl/glove80/…)