Was is a design decision to not have modifiers mirrored on the other side?

[matru]

I am not talking about having them on both sides on each layer, but maybe on one of the layers, for example the SYM or FN (depending on thumb preference) layer to have them on the other side, so when a sequence of keys, say ctrl-shift-t is needed in the case of a colemak layout where T is on the left side of the keyboard, you can opt to choose the right side for the modifiers as it's more comfortable/faster?

[stevep99]

The reasoning is:

• for number layer I wanted to keep standard numpad configuration. If the numbers are on the left, you'd either have to have the numpad reversed, or have the 1 starting on the ring finger, which to me feels non-ideal. Consequently the modifiers had to be on the left in that layer.
• for the function layer, I wanted to have the F keys matching the numbers.
• that only leaves the sym layer, and for that I was minded to keep them in the same place for consistency. There is a bit of a cost for things like Ctrl-T, but I don't find it too bad given that control sequences are generally one-offs. You could conceivably mirror that layer if you thought the ergonomic benefit outweighed consistency, but I'm not convinced it'd be worth it.

[matru]

Thanks for the explanation.

I got a few questions, and I am asking for 34 key layout split ergo keyboard.

You mentioned you did not include mirrored OSMs for the modifiers for layout consistency. What are some (if any) notable changes that you maybe did not push to the layout because it would disturb familiarity, that would optimize it even further?

I have not analyzed differences between your implementation and DreymaR's, is there anything significant?

I also noticed that the layout does not have additional keys bind to the opposite thumb when one layer is selected, except Enter on Layer FN and EXT, why is that?

[stevep99]

One example would be the 0 on the number layer. Ideally it would be in a better place but moving it would make it less numpad-like.

My "Extend" layer is heavily based on DreymaR's. He has some mouse button actions which I replaced with other things and our backspace/deletes are different but otherwise they are similar. I believe DreymaR uses a standard keyboard (ableit with the Wide Mod) so hasn't so much need for thumb selection layers.

There is scope to use multiple thumbs more - some combinations are used already but if using the 36 key variant there are more options available. I'm assuming anyone using people will make modifications as they see fit.