Diving into Dvorak
It has probably been 8 years now since I first wanted to learn how to use the Dvorak (or Simplified) keyboard when I saw my crazy friend Craig give it a try in high school. Now after learning about the benefits of Dvorak over Qwerty again in class and from my new friend Topher… I’m diving into it. It’s difficult though - like learning to type all over again! I’ve even rearranged my keys (as much as possible w/the touch pointer in the way) so there is no easy going back for me. In my spare(?) time between classes now I’m practicing with my local copy of A Basic Course in Dvorak.
Also interesting, to configure your console and X-session for the use of Dvorak see kbdconfig and edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf from something like:
Option "XkbLayout" "dvorak"
… or…
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
… and change it to this…
Option "XkbLayout" "dvorak,us"
Option "XkbOptions" "grp:shift_toggle"
Now you can switch layouts by pressing both Shift keys. This text was written very slowly by a Dvorak newbie. 