[Sussex] Straw Poll

[Geoff Teale]

Steve wrote:
------------
> Geoff, I'll have you drummed out of the Brownies for saying
> that a valued and tool in *nix should die :-)

Didn't say it should die, I said it should've died when machines got more
powerful the audience widened.  vi didn't evolve, but it had the user base
to keep it going despite its problems.  
 
> What many seam to have forgotten is that vi was one of, if
> not the, first visual editor(s) around.  Before that editing
> was done line by line.  Unix pre-dates the first VDUs (or
> at least Thompson & Ritchie didn't have such expensive bits
> of kit to play with).

Hmm, the latter is true, not the former.  This is noteable, though.  TECO
(Emacs forefather) evolved in an environment (MIT) where plenty of powerful
hardware was available and VDU's had been in use for many years.

> I'll admit that vi's interface is non-intuitive, but for 
> someone like me who has taken the time to learn how to
> drive it that time has paid off.  

No one is disputing that - I said it was triumph of substance over style,
not the other way around.

>I can now do much, more
> in vi than any other editor (including [X]Emacs).  By being
> non-intuitive it has forced be to become a better vi user,
> and thus more efficient.  User friendly and intuitive systems
> do not encouraging one to become better at using them.  In
> some ways intuitiveness has it problems.  But if that is the 
> world you want go back to programming in simple scripting 
> languages, like say VB.   [I wonder if I over did it :-)]

ooooh, handbags :)

I'm not suggesting that power is a bad thing, or vi is a bad editor, simply
that I am suprised that people still take the time to learn it when they
could so easily _not_ learn it.  In the long run it pays off, but it's very
painful to begin with!

-- 
GJT
Free Software, Free Society. 
http://www.fsf.org   http://www.gnu.org


The above information is confidential to the addressee and may be privileged.  Unauthorised access and use is prohibited.
 
Internet communications are not secure and therefore this Company does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message.
 
If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful.
 
Claybrook Computing Limited is a subsidiary of Claybrook Computing (Holdings) Limited
Registered Office: Abbey House. 282 Farnborough Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7NJ
Registered in England and Wales No 1287205
 
A Hogg Robinson plc company