On Friday 11 November 2005 05:49 pm, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
I don't think anyone would argue that vi isn't the standard editor. My point is that it's an ill-chosen and obsolete one, especially since it's so easy to include a second one as a more rational choice. That would make everyone happy, including those who believe that vi is indeed perfection incarnate.
I don't think vi is anything.... it's just a tool that is small and is on most *nix systems and is an emergency tool. As such it's like a can-opener. A standard that you can find almost anywhere. As an emergency tool, it can run on almost any system, including Tom's rootboot which is a really handy tool to carry around in your pocket. If you want to have <your fav editor> available... any time... put it on a floppy and use it wherever you happen to be. Nobody is stopping you from doing that. Enjoy....