[geeks] vi vs. emacs - rational discussion

[Dave Kimmel]

On Apr 2, 2004, at 10:33 PM, Bill Bradford wrote:

> I learned vi when I first touched a unix box.

My progress went something like this:  Pico -> some Emacs-like editor 
-> Emacs -> ED[1] -> vi.  For straight text editing, I can switch 
between Emacs, ED, and vi without difficulty, however I won't use 
anything other than ED when I'm working in UniVerse.

It's good, IMO, to understand multiple interface styles, rather than 
multiple editors.  This makes it easier, for me anyway, to adapt to 
whatever kind of editor I might come across - between Emacs, ED, and 
vi, there are three different interface styles (full-screen mode-less, 
line-oriented, full-screen modal) to accomplish roughly the same basic 
task.

[1]  ED is the editor in the UniVerse[2] database.  It is similar to 
unix's ed or DOS's EDLIN in terms of interface and features, but it has 
a few niceties which make it ideal for working in UniVerse.

[2]  UniVerse is a pick-style database/programming environment.

-- Dave Kimmel
    crisco_kid at shaw.ca