[geeks] vi vs. emacs - rational discussion

[James]

> I learned vi when I first touched a unix box.
>
> I now use VIM, solely for color syntax highlighting.
>
> Why (if any reasons), should I consider learning Emacs?
>
> (note: I have vi movement/editing commands hardwired into my
>  brain by this point)
>
> Discuss amongst yourselves.

I'm the opposite. I learned Emacs first because I thought it was easier to
understand and more GUI-like. When I got into the Solaris world I lost Emacs
and had to come up to speed with vi. Since then I have a preference for vi
based on a formula of simplicity+ubiquity+resources.

Simplicity - it is very simple and will work on *any* terminal or console,
even an Apple ][+.

Ubiquity - just about any Unix system has vi default-installed, and it is
available for almost every other OS I can think of.

Resources - vi places very little demand on system resources. This is
important when trying to salvage a tipsy system.