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From: rouben@math16.math.umbc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Whence vi's hjkl?
Message-ID: <1991Apr15.021544.19067@umbc3.umbc.edu>
Date: 15 Apr 91 02:15:44 GMT
Sender: newspost@umbc3.umbc.edu (News  posting account)
Reply-To: rouben@math16.math.umbc.edu ()
Organization: Mathematics Department University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Lines: 16

I have always wondered about the choice of the {h,j,k,l} keys for 
cursor movement in vi.  What was the rational behind it? 
Wouldn't it have been more natural to adopt the {j,k,l,;} keys
for cursor movement instead?  Aren't the {j,k,l,;} keys the standard
left hand's "home" keys for touch-typists?  Does it mean that the
designer(s) of vi were not touch-typists themselves?

I find it somewhat annoying to have to move my fingers away from the
"home" position to move the cursor.  Does anyone consider the usual {h,j,k,l}
choice natural?  Does anyone have an explanation for the choice?

--
Rouben Rostamian                          Telephone: (301) 455-2458
Department of Mathematics and Statistics  e-mail:
University of Maryland Baltimore County   bitnet: rostamian@umbc.bitnet
Baltimore, MD 21228,  U.S.A.              internet: rouben@math9.math.umbc.edu