Yea, it can be done. I've done it. It is easiest to learn when you're doing the sort of stuff I do now -- most of my typing is done right here with you guys. I crank out some Word/Pages documents and spreadsheets, so basically, I'm typing mostly English text.

Where the Dvorak layout becomes a big problem is when I revert to hacking in Emacs. For those who have never used Emacs... it is difficult to describe how important it is to Unix-based programmers. Emacs isn't just an editor - it is a way of life. You can literally do everything on a Unix machine, whether it is running X Windows and a GUI or is a purely text system on a dumb terminal, through Emacs. email, programming, compiling your code, editing your code, writing documents, you name it. Emacs will do it all.

The trouble is, Emacs has a zillion ctrl-foo, esc-x, etc, keystroke combinations. eg, ctrl-v is "scroll down a page" etc. You get used to where the keys are and you're flying along in Emacs, slinging code like one of these super-geeks in a Hollywood  movie. The difference between Hollywood and reality is that you're not flanked by two scantily clad women, whispering sweet nothings in your ears as you're flinging code at the screen.

When you change the keyboard to a Dvorak, suddenly a whole bunch of keystroke commands become just bizzare. In Emacs, the number of control-something commands makes the editor very heavily overloaded on your left hand, so you don't have to move your left hand off the home row; you plant your little finger on the control key, and you're just spitting out commands with your left hand by spreading your hand in an arc across the left side of the keyboard. After years of using Emacs, I can spread the fingers of my left hand about 1.5" wider than I can spread the fingers of my right hand.

When you go to Dvorak and you're an Emacs uber-user.... you're all screwed up. It isn't that you can't touch-type in Dvorak in the editor, it is manipulating the text with the keystroke commands. Most Emacs users who try Dvorak go slowly insane, just as I did, and they end up reluctantly going back, because we're just too dependent on Emacs.

For people who don't consider Emacs a second religion... the Dvorak layout really can improve their lives, their typing speed and reduce repetitive motion stress on their hands and wrists.