… I use nano.
Someone clearly doesn’t do sysadmin work over slow international ssh connections.
I use vi because all I ever have to do in a Linux environment is edit conf files, and vi works great for that. It’s the same in Fedora, CentOS, and Unbuntu, always there and always working the exact same way.
Hell, I use Notepad in Windows. Why not?
Nothing wrong with notepad. It has the same basic command structure as thousands of other programs. You don’t have to use the ESC or : keys
I’ve used vi in the past, because it was the only editor available.
I know how to get into insert mode, I know how to save, and I know how to quit. That is all.
Vi has ex commands that also work with sed.
Thus the knowledge you gain in vi helps with shell scripts as does the reverse.
a) emacs is not in the standard packages on many Unix and Linux installs
b) emacs commands are unique to emacs
c) I make too many typos to use cat - > file
Plus, I’ve been using vi for over a quarter of a century and now I no longer think of the commands, they just happen.
I have to stop and think how I do them when a co-worker asks.
emacs commands are very similar to Windows apps. You use control and alt keys. And even the arrow keys.
Are there any modern popular apps on a Mac or Windows that use the arcane vi command structure? I mean things like Excel, Word, Photoshop, UltraEdit, etc.
There’s the Vimperator/Pentadactyl Firefox add-on.
This.
Hardcore emacs user here.
I’ve moved to a new system in the last few months and getting additional software is like pulling teeth (It’s air-gapped and bringing in your own copy of anything is a termination offense).
Emacs is missing, so I dusted off my limited vi skills because vi is always there. I found vim on the system and it’s kinda grown on me. Changing modes is somehow clearer than spreading my fingers all over like a guitar player.
I guess I’m a heretic now.
I use butterflies.
If ever aliens come upon the charred ashes of the Earth, and take it upon themselves to explore the radioactive carrion-piles that once were Mankind’s pride and joy, perhaps they shall find some last remaining office, or notebook, or memorandum belonging to those in power who brough annihilation upon us all. And if those aliens do find such a remnant, I can’t even imagine what they might find within. What ideologies, what madness, what horrors could drive Men to such an absolute end?
Or rather, I cannot imagine most of the contents of that office, or notebook, or memo. But I’m quite certain that two words will have pride of place, bolded and underlined:
“EMACS RAWKS!!!”
I got a good laugh tonight, some guy was using vi on Windows.
I just had to check my continuity filter because I think I just encountered a discussion between ‘vi’ and ‘emacs’ proponents.
Holy crap, y’all!
Please tell me it is still 2012, because otherwise I need to see what the rest of my family is doing.
Maybe to post on the SDMB.
All of that, plus vi doesn’t mess with your file in ways you don’t expect. No adding a .txt to the end of it, silently changing tabs to spaces or spaces to tabs, writing a bunch of config files into your home directory, saving it in a non-text format, or anything else you really don’t want to happen to a system level config file.
I used to routinely use Lemmy.