[Novalug] Editors thread was vi help, please

[jonwrose at verizon.net]

While that's true, the differences between vim and vi are significant and can trip you up quite easily going from vim to vi.  So, in my opinion, you are better off learning standard vi and then moving to vim.


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: James Ewing Cottrell 3rd <JECottrell3 at Comcast.NET>
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:08:44 
To: <jonwrose at verizon.net>
Cc: <novalug at calypso2.tux.org>
Subject: Re: [Novalug] Editors thread was vi help, please

Since vi is almost a proper subset of vim, that's what you tend to do 
anyway.

Well, this being a Linux group, I tend to think of Vendor UNIX as an 
Evolutionary Dead End, altho some of us may still have to deal with it.

However, you either accept the environment given to you, or you make 
your own. Simply build your own versions of any software you need, and 
then carry them around on a flash drive. Or get the stuff from 
SunFreeWare or similar ilk.

JIM

jonwrose at verizon.net wrote:
> I would agree with the exception of learning VI before learning VIM.  VI exists on every UNIX system, vim is not.  In fact, most of the unix systems I've been on, they don't even have emacs installed.
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Ewing Cottrell 3rd <JECottrell3 at Comcast.NET>
> Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:04:30 
> To: Bonnie Dalzell<bdalzell at qis.net>
> Cc: <novalug at calypso2.tux.org>
> Subject: Re: [Novalug] Editors thread was vi help, please
> 
> Of course you can do what you want, but it's my considered opinion that 
> it's only worthwhile learning two editors: vim and emacs.
> 
> Everything else is destined to disappoint. Both those editors have been 
> around for a quarter of a century, and it's unlikely that anything 
> whipped up as a component of a Desktop Windowing System (gedit, kwrite) 
> could match it, or would even try.
> 
> Better to spend you brain cycles learning the nooks and crannies of vim, 
> or dive into the deep end and learn emacs.
> 
> I have seen countless editors come and go, and I don't want to see any 
> more. Of course, just when you think the game is over, something new 
> comes along. Wake me up when it does.
> 
> JIM
> 
> Bonnie Dalzell wrote:
>> This got me thinking about editors so I did a recent search within 
>> Synaptic and came up with a very large list. I also fetched most of them 
>> to try out.
>>
>> I will try and post some sort of organized set of comments. So far they 
>> divide into terminal editors and gui window editors.
>>
>> The most important variables to me are
>>
>> Keystroke macros?
>> Block selection?
>> Contextual highlighting for code
>> Layout of file selection requestor
>>
>> Just at first glance - Some things that appear in some but not others
>>
>> Gedit has a sort function
>> Kwrite has a nifty ability to highlight a block between selected parens, 
>> brackets, etc
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> X2 at http://www.tangbu.com/x2downld.htm
>>
>> at first I hd problems downloading it with Epiphany but when I choose 
>> "save link as" rather than just clicking on the link it did download.
>>
>> I took both the Linux version and the XWing beta. The XWing beta runs OK 
>> on my Ubuntu system under wine. It does seem to have a macro recorder and 
>> it has a more attractive presentation than nedit.
>>
>> The linux version I was able to launch seems to be terminal based (i tried 
>> both x and xx) which means it does not have a set of menus. Looks like I 
>> will have to read the documentation before being able to do much with the 
>> linux version. The XWing beta under wine is useable from the start 
>> due to the menu system. Clicking on the icons for the menus at the top 
>> brings up the menu items in small requestors.
>>
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>                         Bonnie Dalzell, MA
>> mail:5100 Hydes Rd PO Box 60, Hydes,MD,USA 21082-0060|EMAIL:bdalzell at qis.net
>> Freelance anatomist, vertebrate paleontologist, writer, illustrator, dog
>> breeder, computer nerd & iconoclast... Borzoi info at www.borzois.com.
>> HOME www.batw.net    ART bdalzellart.batw.net  BUSINESS www.boardingatwedge.com
>>
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