*BSD News Article 89855


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From: darrenlo@umich.edu (Darren Lo)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: Betting on Unix
Followup-To: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy
Date: 22 Feb 1997 09:07:32 GMT
Organization: University of Michigan
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On Thu, 20 Feb 1997 01:09:25 GMT, Sang K. Choe (sangria@inlink.com) said something to the effect of:

: Sorry, power I can agree with, but usability?  That's an utter and
: total crock.  Vi is the single most user hostile application I have
: ever had the misfortune of using or trying to teach another to use.

Heh, heh. Try getting somebody who's never seen vi, ex, and their ilk
to run ed. ;)
Here's a transcript of what I think is a typical session:

myunixbox% ed
This is a test.
?
Hello, world
?
help
?
?
?
man ed
?
quit
?
exit
?
^C
?
^Z
?
!
!

(etc... followed by the sounds of a swearing user and a terminated
connection ;) Note the simplicity, consistency, and power of ed's
error reporting.
Having said all that, I must say that I love what I can do with vi,
even if I can't yet be called a vi power user.

--
Darren Lo, darrenlo@umich.edu                  +-----------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------+Do not meddle in the affairs |
|Mobius strip for sale... see back for details.|of Schrodinger, for he is    |
|Klein bottle for sale... inquire within.      |subtle and quick to anger.   |
+----------------------------------------------+-----------------------------+