kmonad VS ferris

Similar features are supported by several applications such as KMonad. Basically the only reason to prefer a firmware solution is if you often switch systems (physical computers, virtualization, remote desktop) and keeping more of your configuration in the keyboard is simpler ... and I suppose if you run into latency issues with features like tap/hold.

A lot of my input customization is better implemented [on Linux] in KMonad and then the usual XKB ... and Emacs (or other text editor).

Lower-level software like KMonad has more or less feature parity with QMK.

While usually true, much of the same effect can be achieved by using a converter (such as hasu's) that can be built for as little as $15 or so, or in software on the host computer (such as kmonad).

if somebody is reading this and not familiar with the way how to mod the laptop (or any other) keeb, check KMonad. very slightly buggy but amazingly powerful. and i think there are some alternatives. havent done the proper research though

Couple of months ago I discovered KMonad (win/mac/linux) which kind of changed my life really. That way you can have functionality similar to what QMK offers (was sort of the main inspiration for the creator of KMonad) with literally any keyboard.

started using Kmonad https://github.com/david-janssen/kmonad seems to be a modern software solution for this, and works well for me.

I don’t know much about AHK, but if it ends up not working you could look into using kmonad instead.

I wanted to make a syntax plugin for kmonad which has a lot of functions with dashes between the names of it (e.g. tap-next-release function). However, when I use syntax keyword kbdFunction tap-next-release it is interpreted as they are separated words and won't highlight any of them for some reason. Is there any way to make them all highlighted as a single keyword?

The original Ferris keayboard uses an I/O expander.

Corne/crkbd, Sweep, ferris, Lilly58, The Card (the one in your pic)

So, I know the Ferris repo is here: https://github.com/pierrechevalier83/ferris

For minimizing awkward finger movements, I feel like a decent approach would be to borrow techniques from the tiny keyboard crowd make a multi-layered keyboard layout to minimize movement. e.g. some people have 34 key keyboards with multiple layers triggered in various ways to get the full range of input. (Some people go even further, e.g. to 16 keys).

I have 3 equipped white PCBs for Ferris Compact v0.2.1. It's a 34-key ergo keyboard, for Kailh Choc switches.

The base idea is something like this amazing keeb but with a more aggressive pinky row stagger like the ferris

With this principle in mind I tried somehow to create my modifier layout, if you want to check out my keymap&x:10%3B&=Pause%0A(enc)%3B&@_y:1.25&x:3%3B&=*&_x:9%3B&=%2F=%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:2%3B&=%25&_x:1%3B&=+&_x:7%3B&=-&_x:1%3B&=%5E%3B&@_y:-0.8700000000000001&x:5%3B&=%2F@&_x:5%3B&=%2F&%3B&@_y:-0.6299999999999999%3B&=Esc%0A%60%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A~&=%23&_x:13%3B&=$&=%5C%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:3%3B&=%3C&_x:9%3B&=%3E%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:2%3B&=%5B&_x:1%3B&=(&_x:7%3B&=)&_x:1%3B&=%5D%3B&@_y:-0.8700000000000001&x:5%3B&=%2F%2F&_x:5%3B&=%5C%3B&@_y:-0.629999999999999%3B&=Tab&=%7B&_x:13%3B&=%7D&='%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:3%3B&=!&_x:9%3B&=%3F%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:2%3B&='&_x:1%3B&=%2F:&_x:7%3B&=%2F%3B&_x:1%3B&=%22%3B&@_y:-0.8699999999999992&x:5%3B&=,&_x:5%3B&=.%3B&@_y:-0.6300000000000008%3B&=Shift&=%7C&_x:13%3B&=%2F&=Ctrl%3B&@_y:-0.5&x:2.5%3B&=Mute%0A(enc)&_x:10%3B&=Pause%0A(enc)%3B&@_y:1&x:3%3B&=3&_x:9%3B&=8%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:2%3B&=2&_x:1%3B&=4&_x:7%3B&=7&_x:1%3B&=9%3B&@_y:-0.8699999999999992&x:5%3B&=5&_x:5%3B&=6%3B&@_y:-0.6300000000000008%3B&=Esc%0A%60%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A~&=1&_x:13%3B&=0&=%5C%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:3%3B&=Up&_x:9%3B&=5%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:2%3B&=Left&_x:1%3B&=Right&_x:7%3B&=4&_x:1%3B&=6%3B&@_y:-0.8699999999999992&x:5&a:7%3B&=&_x:5&a:4%3B&=0%3B&@_y:-0.6300000000000008%3B&=Tab&=Tab&_x:13&a:7%3B&=&_a:4%3B&='%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:3%3B&=Bottom&_x:9%3B&=2%3B&@_y:-0.75&x:2&a:7%3B&=&_x:1%3B&=&_x:7&a:4%3B&=1&_x:1%3B&=3%3B&@_y:-0.8699999999999992&x:5&a:7%3B&=&_x:5%3B&=%3B&@_y:-0.6300000000000008&a:4%3B&=Shift&_a:7%3B&=&_x:13%3B&=&_a:4%3B&=Ctrl%3B&@_y:-0.5&x:2.5%3B&=Mute%0A(enc)&_x:10%3B&=Pause%0A(enc)%3B&@_rx:4&ry:8.175&y:-4.675000000000001&x:-0.5%3B&=Tab%3B&@_y:4.5&x:-0.5%3B&=Tab%3B&@_y:4.25&x:-0.5%3B&=Tab%3B&@_rx:13&y:-4.675000000000001&x:-0.5%3B&=Alt%3B&@_y:4.5&x:-0.5%3B&=Alt%3B&@_y:4.25&x:-0.5%3B&=Alt%3B&@_r:15&rx:4&y:-4.675000000000001&x:-0.5%3B&=Ctrl%3B&@_ry:13.75&y:-4.75&x:-0.5%3B&=Ctrl%3B&@_ry:19&y:-4.75&x:-0.5%3B&=Ctrl%3B&@_r:30&ry:8.175&y:-5.675000000000001&x:-0.5%3B&=Esc%0A%60%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A~%3B&@_x:-0.5%3B&=Shift%3B&@_ry:13.75&y:-5.75&x:-0.5%3B&=Esc%0A%60%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A~%3B&@_x:-0.5%3B&=Shift%3B&@_ry:19&y:-5.75&x:-0.5%3B&=Esc%0A%60%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A~%3B&@_x:-0.5%3B&=Shift%3B&@_r:45&ry:8.175&y:-5.675000000000001&x:-0.5&h:2%3B&=Space%0ALower%3B&@_ry:13.75&y:-5.75&x:-0.5&c=%23949494&t=%23000000%0A%23080808&h:2%3B&=%0ALower%3B&@_ry:19&y:-5.75&x:-0.5&c=%23cccccc&t=%23000000&h:2%3B&=Space%0ALower%3B&@_r:-45&rx:13&ry:8.175&y:-5.675000000000001&x:-0.5&h:2%3B&=Return%0ARaise%3B&@_ry:13.75&y:-5.75&x:-0.5&h:2%3B&=Return%0ARaise%3B&@_ry:19&y:-5.75&x:-0.5&c=%23949494&h:2%3B&=%0ARaise%3B&@_r:-30&ry:8.175&y:-5.675000000000001&x:-0.5&c=%23cccccc%3B&=Gui%3B&@_x:-0.5%3B&=Back%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0ASpace%3B&@_ry:13.75&y:-5.75&x:-0.5%3B&=Gui%3B&@_x:-0.5%3B&=Back%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0ASpace%3B&@_ry:19&y:-5.75&x:-0.5%3B&=Gui%3B&@_x:-0.5%3B&=Back%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0ASpace%3B&@_r:-15&ry:8.175&y:-4.675000000000001&x:-0.5%3B&=Delete%3B&@_ry:13.75&y:-4.75&x:-0.5%3B&=Delete%3B&@_ry:19&y:-4.75&x:-0.5%3B&=Delete) (and maybe share any thought's on it)(no function layer yet, work in progress)(I'm eventually gonna build a Ferris and I feel like 6x3 is too much for me, so my layers are 5x3), please do.

I would be very interested in having a programmable ergo keyboard like the Ferris: https://github.com/pierrechevalier83/ferris

The ferris (not sweep) is a great example of a board with an integrated mcu. The big disadvantage is that the design is tied to a specific part and also will be less accessible for DIYers. In the case of the ferris, the chip that it uses has been almost impossible to find for the last year, which is one of the factors of the sweep's popularity over the ferris. https://github.com/pierrechevalier83/ferris