On 15 Jan 2001, at 14:35, Garry wrote:
> Ahha! A religious argument to join!
>From a 'convert', I used to avoid vi, I was first introduced to pico,
so every time I had a chance, I would use pico. Then I installed
by first system from scratch, and pico wasn't there, yet I needed
to modify files. vi was there, always available, so I took the time
to learn on how to use it, and vi became my friend.
> The guy(s) who wrote this thing were constructively lazy:
> given the design parameters (no special display features on
> the terminal, no special keys on the keyboard) they came up
> with an editor that got you from "here" to "there" with
> very little typing overhead. An elegant answer to a set of
> nasty problems:
> * you have no arrow keys; how do you move the cursor?
> * you have no function keys; how to you implement search
> and replace? Copy/cut and paste? File handling?
>
> The VI (visual) editor extended the concepts of the basic
> line and character editor to include real-time screen updates
> of the editor's commands, but the basic design constraints
> still held: minimal keyboard, minimal terminal capability.
Perhaps many of the 'new' generation are used to automatic
transmission vehicles with power windows and locks. press
a button and voila!. put them in a car with standard transmission
(stick shift), and manual windows and locks. It becomes an
adventure to
1) use the right leg for the gas pedal or the brakes
2) use the left leg to control the clutch
3) use the right hand to shift gears (in coordination with 1 and 2)
4) use the left hand to crank the window down
5) all of the above and still have control of the steering wheel <g>
It may sound arcane or old fashioned, but, the driver is the one in
control., now that I think of it, what do *professional* race car
drivers use?
> It's still arcane. It's still stilted. It's still (in the
> basic implementation) unforgiving. But ... it has REAL
> power. And it comes with every flavor of Unix and Linux.
so you can count on it. Anywhere, anytime.
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