[bsnnkv]

I have both an Ergodox and a Ferris which are both now gathering dust. In my experience, columnar layouts are not worth it for me as a developer, because there is nothing that I can gain from a layout that changes the position of the {};'<>() keys that will ever offset the productivity and familiarity lost by those keys never being where I expect them to be.

[akaralar]

Designing a symbol specific layer[1] that includes all the symbols without needing to shift the keys made programming much more pleasant for me. It took a bit of getting used to but since programming and typing symbols is something we do quite frequently during the day, the brain gets used to it rather quickly.

[1] https://configure.zsa.io/ergodox-ez/layouts/v56OO/latest/10

[rrradical]

I feel like it took a month to get fully used to and then I haven’t looked back. I did have an RSI motivation.

[zvmaz]

Are you able to switch back and forth between staggered and columnar?

[mohaine]

Yes. Without even thinking about it.

[zvmaz]

So what do you use Kanata for if you don't mind the question?

[bsnnkv]

I have a bunch of home row mods, and I also have layers with dedicated app-specific utility-mappings that I have automatically toggle on when the relevant app window is focused so that I don't have to waste extra keys to toggle/switch between different layers.