[geeks] vi vs. emacs - rational discussion

[Joshua Boyd]

On Fri, Apr 02, 2004 at 11:33:14PM -0600, Bill Bradford wrote:
> 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)

If there is some way you could benefit from a smarter editor, emacs is
the way to go in my book.  Maybe vi has a way to display function
prototypes (though it only does it for the functions in my project, not
system calls, although I have a feeling it can if I can just figure out
how to turn it on) while I'm writing the function call, but if so I
haven't figured it out.  Also, I like the inteligent cursor movement,
that I've seen no indication of vi supporting.

Of course, I'm under the impression that the things I like most about
emacs are things you don't care about at all, and thus I'm at a loss for
why you should really consider learning emacs.