Edit: I realized that the second layer has Home, PgUp, etc. shown here, but really the keys there are what you see on the Extend layer without having to hit Extend first. Also, the "DF" keys you see on the Unicode layer toggle back to one of the base layers, rather than setting them as default. I rearranged the layer order a bit also. Getting this all laid out was so tedious, though, I think I'll just leave the images as-is with corrections.

Guess I'm more tired than I thought!

Well, the thing is, the modifiers that are used most often are in good positions already and there is more than one way to get to them. Having those function keys on the left hand lets me use Emacs' eshell, check my email, and record and stop macros in a flash. That's pretty darn convenient.

However, the layout isn't set in stone, so I may give home-row modifiers a try in the future. Being inflexible isn't my way. ;)

I've been trying out different "modal" solutions for the same reason lately. Still not sure that I like the way it changes things, but the basic idea is good. :P

I believe the best answer lies somewhere in between. I'm a fan of many of the aspects of Vim but I also like the power of Extend. To select or move to previous word or the beginning/end of line/document I now almost exclusively use Extend since it works everywhere. But of course there's so much more Vim can do!

You hit the nail on the head. After enough time you do develop a sense of why many of the decisions about modifiers were made the way they were. It doesn't mean you have to like them all, and using the almost limitless configurability to make it the way you want was intended from the very beginning. I think it was Erik Naggum who said that Emacs comes with lousy defaults as a "built-in competency test" to see what you'll do to make it usable. I wouldn't go that far, but it's still pretty amusing for longtime users. ;)

But the long and short of it all is this: Everyone's workflow is bound to look a little different once they've had enough time to develop preferences.

As for the Emacs and Vim eternal war, I don't pick a side based on anything other than experience. True, Emacs is far more than a simple editor and may be criticized on that basis. Yes, its learning curve looks more like an infinite spiral than a hill. And yes, I do spend a huge amount of time in it for all kinds of uses that no one initially would think to do (I'd be posting this in Emacs if the Javascript and CSS support were better!). But it is also indispensable and thoroughly enjoyable to those who have extensive experience using it. Knowing what I can do and how much more I can still learn to do in it, I think it's a fair statement that it is the "editor of a lifetime" for me. No one has to feel the same way for that to be the case.

EDIT: On an unrelated note, I'm trying out Mod-DH tonight. What's odd about it is, I'm not struggling with it at the moment. It feels really nice and the reduction in speed isn't nearly as drastic as I thought it would be. See what you people do to me? I put all the blame squarely where it belongs. :P I think this will be nowhere near as big of a hurdle as Colemak proper was if I stick with it.

Grats, Azuvix! And welcome to Colemak-DH! ^_^

On a side note, I'm about to finish the next version of PKL-eD which will have modular remapping. So finally Curl/Angle/Wide will make sense without mucking about with multiple pkl.ini files.

Good to be on board, cap'n. ;)

That's really exciting! The more accessible it is, the better the chances of adoption. I sense that you're the type who would use it even if you were the only person alive who did so. Even so, good things ought to be shared so everyone can enjoy the benefits. That's Humanity 101. :)

And useful you are :) Thank you! I don't think I ever said that, but thank you for all the work that you've put into this, it really makes things so much easier for us :)

Seconded. Extend tag-team strikes again.

The one exception I'd make, since you have the wide mod there, is that right-alt comes into play as a good thumb key. You could reasonably use that as shift for example, and it would be easy to use it in combination with your existing Extend.

I recently started a tech blog and have a post dedicated to this:
Said blog post

The blog itself is not quite finished, but it's getting there. :)

Thanks, DreymaR. It's not for making money or anything, just out of a desire to put my thoughts out there. I'm already having a lot of fun with it. :)