You seem to answer some of your own questions: Yes, this is a quite reiterated topic. Yes, you need to give it more than a week(!).

Dvorak used to have an active fan base online? What happened? Maybe "everyone" online started using other alternatives? Who knows. Or maybe you just didn't find them?

Although seasoned, Dvorak didn't have access to computer simulations or for that matter modern keyboards. He did his work using now dated methods and equipment. I think his results still are good but if you make a comparison like yours you should keep these points too in mind.

If you find Colemak hard to learn, there's always the option of going gradually via a Tarmak layout (see my sig topic). But it isn't that hard. Again, who the hell thinks they can learn a new layout in one week?!? (Unless they're well trained in layout learning and a bit of a genius, that is.)

Coding optimizations is usually seen as a modular thing: Colemak itself doesn't touch the symbol key placements but doesn't stop you from doing it yourself either. Several people on these forums have proposed optimized schemes for AltGr (lv3-4) key mappings facilitating coding. Just snope around, you'll find them.

I kinda like that xahlee article, although it claims to be about Colemak Vs Dvorak but in reality is about something else (what's important to optimize) as far as I can see.

One very good point there is about Back/Enter/arrows/etc. In my opinion a very good answer to that is the Extend layer, using CapsLock as a modifier. Similar to the Fn key on Happy Hacking and other keyboards, but implemented in software so it works on any keyboard. (Again, see my sig topic.)

Also beneficial in my opinion is the Wide ergonomic mod that brings your pinky one key closer to the right-hand keys.

Soukie raises some interesting points but they do seem mostly like his/her own "random thoughts" as the blog is titled. Lots of things could be said about it all; one thing I noted was the usage of the top row: Here I think Dvorak made a capital mistake by giving two of the best key positions on the board to the period and comma that aren't all that frequent after all? I consider the Colemak WFP and LUY positions very easily reachable at least.

lol guys...
I'm sticking with colemak for the time being... Its not like I went back to QWERTY... Heaven forbid.. lol...

The Workman layout is quite bad in my opinion. It relies heavily on which keys are easy to reach and press and somehow disregards the same finger ratio, which should not be overlooked. Just had to mention it :)

Nope. Linux distributability for the most part is ruled by advocacy and more importantly implementation rather than by objective measures of quality.

I too think that Colemak is better than Workman, but I wouldn't base that opinion on inclusion in a Linux distro. ;)

Ok... I cannot say that I'm feeling it easier typing on Colemak as time is goes by.. But I hope to give it a good run before I really have to say that Dvorak is better for me. I'm remaining patient with it and who knows, after sufficient time, I might choose it to stay with it.

I still feel that all the same hand action does feel weird. I cannot find a sweet speed with it. Kinda like learning to do a rift on a guitar..

LOL.. impatient? It took me only a week to get used to dvorak. I went cold turkey from the start.
Same with Colemak.. straight cold turkey, both at work and a home.

Dvorak was the first layout I started learning to touchtype & well I didn't say that was completely touch typing.. I learned the layout within a week and was able to get a good speed of 30wpm with occasionally looking at the keyboard. That was just about the same as what I was doing on QWERTY for 12 years... I spent a month going through touch typing on dvorak.
My problem with Colemak is that it is taking me longer to learn the complete layout and get to the same speed as I was.
Did my brief stint with dvorak mess me up?

I think it was the fact that the dvorak layout was designed to be easy to learn. After all the alternating hands approach does seem ti make it easier.
I briefly tried to learn touch typing in QWERTY & I must say it was harder.
Perhaps the close to QWERTY design of colemak makes it the same for those who are new to touchtyping or for those who are coming from dvorak.

Do you type code all day? You must chat or type emails sometimes I suppose.

So a mixture of code, chat and email is what you should put to the test, not coding text alone.

By the way you can choose either of them, and go for it, or stay indecisive for a few more decades.

For coding, I believe in two things: Extend mappings for navigation/editing (turns your whole computer into Vim light!), and lv3-4 mappings or a "coding layer" for easy access to brackets and stuff you use a lot while coding. The latter is somewhat language dependent though, so my main belief is in modularity!

Colemak is a letter block layout. In a modularity-based approach you optimize the letter block separately (apart from the semicolon that QWERTY stupidly put in a way too good position!) and then worry about the other stuff if you have to.

@knightjp I can understand you. I had the same problems you had... So I ditched Colemak... (I am currently using a modified Workman with I and O swapped, but i don't recommend it)

I'd recommend for you, based only on my own limited experience:

- If it ain't broken don't fix it, if Dvorak worked for it, consider using it. (many people can't re-map shorcuts to new keys because they already use other shorcuts on those keys). If you don't see what the problem with Dvorak is, it is because you don't have any, so use it. (I can't, because I can't do without ZXCV)
- You can also decide to keep using Colemak and measure your progress with online tests https://www.keyhero.com/typing-tests-wpm/
if you consider that you are not progressing much in a week or two then you might again consider Dvorak... or stick with Colemak...
- If you ever experience pain using a layout, watch out!