qmk-firmware/layouts/community/ergodox/j3rn

J3RN's Mac-Centric ErgoDox EZ keymap

Motivation

Essentially, I wanted to switch to a layout that was less jarring than the default ErgoDox EZ layout, and did not require finger gymnastics to perform common OS X shortcuts (most of which involve the CMD (LGui) key).

How is it different from the default ErgoDox EZ default_osx layout?

This layout more closely resembles that of the Mac keyboard, and has some other goodness baked in. Here is a rundown of what that means:

Mac-like changes

• The key to the left of "1" is "~" instead of "=".
• The key to the right of "0" is Backspace instead of "-" (misleadingly labeled "delete" on the Mac's keyboard). There was no room to fit in "-" and "=" between "0" and Backspace, unfortunately.
• The key to the left of "Q" is Tab instead of Delete.
• The rightmost big key on the left thumb is CMD (LGui) instead of Backspace.
• The key to the left of Alt-Shift is an Alt key. This is close to it's position on the Mac keyboard, though slightly further left.

Other changes

• The button to the left of "A" is Ctrl/Esc instead of Backspace. This is actually how I have the keyboard on my Macbook set up to be, since it's loads more convenient than a CAPS LOCK key. This is the Ctrl key I find myself using most.
• Mouse uses Vim-style navigation. This allows you to move the mouse around with hjkl just like in Vim. Additionally, right and left click are the conveniently placed 'i' and 'o' keys.
• The key to the right of "5" and the key to left of "6" are "[" and "]", respectively, instead of Left and Right. There is a more convenient set of Left and Right already present. Truth be told, I don't really use these keys, as they are a stretch to reach.
• The Toggle L1 keys in the center of the keyboard have been replaced by the otherwise displaced "-" and "=". They are laid out, left-to-right, in the same order as on the Mac keyboard. Honestly, they are not terribly conveniently placed, and their placement might change in a later version. I found that the ~L1 would be better situated elsewhere.
• The "~" key in the extreme bottom-left is now just momentary L1. The "~" key was moved to the top-left as mentioned before, and I like to keep my multi-use keys to a minimum due to the latency for them to switch from "press" to "hold."
• The Home and End buttons have been shifted up on the left thumb, and ~L2 inserted below them. Nearly all of my media layer changes are on the right side, so the ~L2 key is on the left side.
• The Page Up and Page Down buttons have been shifted up on the right thumb, and ~L1 inserted below them. I don't use either of the "Page" keys often, and use this ~L1 more than any other.
• Traditional numpad layout. The base of most numpads is a double-wide "0" key to the left of a "." key. This is reflected in my layout by having two "0" keys to the left of a "." key.
• The function keys (F1-F12) have been moved to L2. They were in the way in L1.
• ⏯ lives on ',' in the media layer, between ⏪ on 'm' and ⏩ on '.'. This is the way they are laid out on the mac keyboard, and makes the most sense to me.
• The keys on the bottom-right that were formerly "[" and "]" are now Alt-Shift and Alt, respectively. This enables me to do those C-M-<key> bindings in emacs. I use L1 for "[" and "]".

I'm always open to feedback and/or suggestions!