[Gllug] vi vs emacs (repeat)

[Ian Scott]

> The question is as old as the Unix OS!
> 
> Sys Admins usually go for vi as they need to write/edit lots of conf 
> files and/or script, vi is fast, small and almost always 
> present in the OS.
> 
> Developers, copywriters and specific IT experts prefer emacs 
> as it can 
> be loaded with programming languages, email functionality and 
> many other 
> extra modules making it a  multi-purpose application.
> 

I would always install both vi and emacs on a box, as they are both good,
but for different things.

Vi is a very powerful quick-load editor - call it up, edit a file, close it
down.  I would never use emacs for that kind of thing, as it takes too long
to load.  Vi is also much more useable on a terminal (a lot of emacs stuff
works much better under X - although it does work on a terminal), and
therefore better if you want to ssh in to your box.

On the other hand, emacs is great as a bring it up, run it all day editor.
It makes a very good configurable IDE, and can do sooo much more - surf the
web, play games, read/send email...

The OP says he comes from a GUI background, so will probably find emacs
slightly easier to start with, as it works more like a 'normal' (/me dodges
thunderbolts) editor - you just type away, without having to get your head
round insert mode, etc.



Of course, you could be perverse and just use VILE.



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