On Wednesday 13 September 2006 23:23, Bob Beck wrote:
> ... [various other misinformed half truths] ...
Not so, maybe you did not read it...
> > * Out of date vi, harder to navigate and use, poor visual feedback.
>
> vi is completely current. I believe you are thinking of "vim" which
> a bunch of linux distros install, and stupidly, alias to vi - it's not
> the same thing. It is in ports, and you can install it on openbsd
> quite well. Quite a number of developers who are in all other ways I
> consider perfectly sane and normal individuals even use it.
Ah, yes of course. Right you are! That link to vim can be misleading.
> vi has 25 years of history behind it. When I'm a sysadmin and type
> vi, I want vi with all it's ususal idiosyncracies so that it's
> basically the same no matter what system I'm using, OpenBSD, Solaris,
> AIX, HP/UX, RiscOS, etc. etc. etc. (except Dead Rat Linux derivatives
That's probably as good an answer I can get why many use it.
But, I prefer the occational ease of use when vim is available. Especially
since it does not create any problem for me skipping between different
vi/vim. I've not found it anything but a boon when I'm being a sysadmin.
My reference to coding with vi/vim means usually working on scripts, and
config files. In those scenarios I'll use what get's the job done the
easiest, unless it's a security risk like telnet.
The core part of the OBSD community is pretty hardcore which is good. But as
one can see in the threads there are a lot of other users including even
windows people who have never heard of vi before trying out some Unice.
I don't get very emotional about either one and try to keep things simple. I'm
curious to see how many not equally hard core users prefer vi over vim when
having a choice.
--
Steve Szmidt
"To enjoy the right of political self-government, men must be
capable of personal self-government - the virtue of self-control.
A people without decency cannot be secure in its liberty.
From the Declaration Principles
