Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (4570 mails)

< Previous Next >
Re: [SLE] Re: early vi -- ed -- edlin
  • From: "Paul W. Abrahams" <abrahams@xxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 20:30:43 +0000 (UTC)
  • Message-id: <200511111529.16141.abrahams@xxxxxxx>
On Friday 11 November 2005 2:15 pm, Paul Cartwright wrote:

> as with ANY file/folder/drive, backups are important.
> every now and then, ef you are editing a LARGE file, it is always good
> to do a
> :w
>
> then keep going. Or if you totally screw it up, a
> :e
> to start over with the existing file. VI only does what it is told.
> Since I fat finger things alot, I learned these lessons years ago:)

Yes, that's exactly my point. With education and expertise you can overcome
the obscure aspects of most software. But vulnerability to fat-fingering
doesn't go away no matter how good your knowledge. Every mistyping
introduces an error and a negative consequence, but with modeless editors the
damage is usually much more limited and easier to correct.

Paul

< Previous Next >
This Thread
Follow Ups