[falcolas]

I've tried to use smaller keyboards with layers, but unless I'm using them everywhere I will forget what buttons to hit. And ultimately, my desk space is not at such a premium that a full-sized keyboard is unwelcome in that space.

I do also enjoy (full sized) split keyboards though.

[ZeroGravitas]

When learning my 36 key layout, I needed to disable the other keys on my full size keyboards, to force myself to use the subset. Once I'd learned that, I could turn them back on without being tempted to fall back to them instead of learning. Once I learned it, I prefered it even on the keyboards with many more keys available, like my Kinesis Advantage.

[aendruk]

Yeah the trick is to actually use the small layout everywhere, not just for consistency but to continue getting the benefits of reduced finger strain and hand motion.

I reproduced most of a small keyboard’s layout on my laptop using KMonad and now don’t even touch about 20 keys even though they’re available. It’s that realization that makes one dream of just omitting the unused hardware.