[cdash]

Why not just use jikl instead if you don't want to lift your hand to move to the arrow keys. I am kind of tired of seeing this obsession with trying to get everyone to use hjkl which just doesn't make any actual sense. I totally get the point about the arrow keys requiring you to lift your hand but you can accomplish the same arrow key logic while keeping your hand in the same place.

[enoch_r]

Generally when people advocate using hjkl, they're doing so:

A: for use within vim (where "i" has another meaning already), or

B: for people who have a long history using vim and are already used to the hjkl paradigm, or

C: (most often) both.

I'm really not sure why you would get tired of this "obsession." No one is telling you to use hjkl unless you're using vim.

[smosher]

> I'm really not sure why you would get tired of this "obsession."

It's annoying when you spot this kind of thing about 6 times a year. FWIW today I also spotted a story about how you shouldn't be using hjkl.

[Kluny]

Hey, we're hackers. We only have strong opinions.

[raylu]

There are a lot of other tools that use hjkl. Most commonly `less`, but also pentadactyl (http://5digits.org/) and a lot of tiling window managers.

[vacri]

'i' already has a function in vim - one of the most frequently used ones.

[arthulia]

He makes a good point though. You could switch insert to the h key and do it this way.

Upsides: - ijkl is easier for users learning vim. - don't have to shift your fingers over to h key

Downsides - rebind insert to h (not really a big deal) - middle finger is now responsible for up and down (I honestly don't see this having much effect on efficiency)

I'm tempted to try this, but I hate the feeling of not being familiar with a vanilla config. What if I have to use somebody else's machine?

[vacri]

The issue with rebinding is that you'll only encounter your bindings on your machine. If you're frequently on machines that don't have your custom profile, that's an issue.

I'm having trouble getting off the arrow keys myself - because they work regardless of whether you're in insert mode or not...

[arthulia]

> The issue with rebinding is that you'll only encounter your bindings on your machine. If you're frequently on machines that don't have your custom profile, that's an issue.

I mentioned that at the end of my post.

[vacri]

Weird, not sure how I missed it. Sorry.

[Kluny]

I would argue that a is just as good, or better, than i.