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Why does a fscking text editor has an 600 page manual?

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ViRGE

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
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Vi and Emacs aren't text editors; they became virtual mini-OSs years ago. If you want a real text editor, get Pico or Joe.
 
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beer

Lifer
Jun 27, 2000
11,169
1
0
Originally posted by: mcveigh
Originally posted by: beer
It's a Text Editor. With a manual that is longer than most of my college textbooks.

Do linux geeks get off on making incredibly complicated tasks out of the simplest of things? Like text editors, for example?
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yes we do but we can do a whole ton of sh!t with it :)
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It's a text edtior. I can understand a book this size for sendmail or something...but this is a text editor. No matter how much you can do with it, it is limited to editing ascii characters. Doesn't it occut to those who spend this much time learning software to justify saving a few keystrokes that this is completely overkill or something?
 
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beer

Lifer
Jun 27, 2000
11,169
1
0
Originally posted by: ViRGE
Vi and Emacs aren't text editors; they became virtual mini-OSs years ago. If you want a real text editor, get Pico or Joe.
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Can you show me a web site that overviews this without offering me links to 100 individual FAQs and 15,000 help files? I really don't understand. I'm beginning to feel like the concept of user interface just doesn't apply to people that write software like this. They brag about how much documentation there is.....but never summarize it nicely, it's all or nothing.
 
Linflas

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
Originally posted by: ViRGE
Vi and Emacs aren't text editors; they became virtual mini-OSs years ago. If you want a real text editor, get Pico or Joe.
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Joe is my favorite because it is modeled on Wordstar which is still my favorite text editor on a PC.
 
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everman

Lifer
Nov 5, 2002
11,288
1
0
As a text editor, Vi is like using a giant chainsaw when you only need a pocket knife. That is, it's far more than just a text editor ;)
 
halik

halik

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
25,696
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TommyVercetti

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2003
7,623
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VI is not a text editor, it's a concept. The concept being that "Hey look doofus, I use VI and I am so much cooler than you are. What you say? You want to learn it? Well grab this 600 page manual and read it. Ofcourse I didn't, I just learned all this in a day". Seriously, this kind of attitude is very common with Linux geeks.
 

Originally posted by: TommyVercetti
VI is not a text editor, it's a concept. The concept being that "Hey look doofus, I use VI and I am so much cooler than you are. What you say? You want to learn it? Well grab this 600 page manual and read it. Ofcourse I didn't, I just learned all this in a day". Seriously, this kind of attitude is very common with Linux geeks.
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What if you actaully have a use for the features VI offers?

I'm sure you don't on your limited level.
 
ViRGE

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106
Originally posted by: SampSon
Originally posted by: TommyVercetti
VI is not a text editor, it's a concept. The concept being that "Hey look doofus, I use VI and I am so much cooler than you are. What you say? You want to learn it? Well grab this 600 page manual and read it. Ofcourse I didn't, I just learned all this in a day". Seriously, this kind of attitude is very common with Linux geeks.
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What if you actaully have a use for the features VI offers?

I'm sure you don't on your limited level.
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Because most people that need the advanced features that it offers, really just need a GUI text editor. For a CLI editor, KISS.:p
 
Chebago

Chebago

Senior member
Apr 10, 2004
575
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marcyes.com
in Linux I really like kwrite, vi is great when you have sshed into another computer and don't want to slow the connection down trying to use the gui. On an unrelated note, openoffice kinda blows.
 
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CTho9305

Elite Member
Jul 26, 2000
9,214
1
81
A book completely describing mozilla would probably be 600 pages too. The fact that Moz can be used for MANY things other than a web browser does not make it any less of a web browser.
 
Zenmervolt

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
24,514
44
91
Originally posted by: SampSon
Originally posted by: TommyVercetti
VI is not a text editor, it's a concept. The concept being that "Hey look doofus, I use VI and I am so much cooler than you are. What you say? You want to learn it? Well grab this 600 page manual and read it. Ofcourse I didn't, I just learned all this in a day". Seriously, this kind of attitude is very common with Linux geeks.
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What if you actaully have a use for the features VI offers?

I'm sure you don't on your limited level.
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Whether you intended to or not, you gave a perfect example of the snobbish elitism that he was talking about.

ZV
 
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EmperorIQ

Platinum Member
Sep 30, 2003
2,003
0
0
yea, vi and emacs are more than just text editors. took me about 1-2 hours to get down the basics of emacs. i'm gonna try to learn vi as soon as i have the time. they aren't freaking notepad!


ok, so just got done reading the thread, i would agree with tommyvercetti. At the moment there is no pratical reasons for me wanting to know vi, i just do cause i researched it a little and it realized that it was difficult. Just want to be like the rest :D
 
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Codewiz

Diamond Member
Jan 23, 2002
5,758
0
76
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: SampSon
Originally posted by: TommyVercetti
VI is not a text editor, it's a concept. The concept being that "Hey look doofus, I use VI and I am so much cooler than you are. What you say? You want to learn it? Well grab this 600 page manual and read it. Ofcourse I didn't, I just learned all this in a day". Seriously, this kind of attitude is very common with Linux geeks.
Click to expand...
What if you actaully have a use for the features VI offers?

I'm sure you don't on your limited level.
Click to expand...
Whether you intended to or not, you gave a perfect example of the snobbish elitism that he was talking about.

ZV
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That is the damn truth. I learned long ago that Vi was overkill for 90% of things I did. And memorizing all the crap I used for 10% of my work wasn't worth it. I used Vi all through college because that is what we had(except for Pico). I could use Pico or Vi and since I learned Vi, I stuck with it during college.

After college, I soon realized that Vi was overrated. It is just overkill for most people and most tasks. If you need it to do the job then use it. Otherwise pick a tool that best suits the job.
 
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CTho9305

Elite Member
Jul 26, 2000
9,214
1
81
Originally posted by: Codewiz
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: SampSon
Originally posted by: TommyVercetti
VI is not a text editor, it's a concept. The concept being that "Hey look doofus, I use VI and I am so much cooler than you are. What you say? You want to learn it? Well grab this 600 page manual and read it. Ofcourse I didn't, I just learned all this in a day". Seriously, this kind of attitude is very common with Linux geeks.
Click to expand...
What if you actaully have a use for the features VI offers?

I'm sure you don't on your limited level.
Click to expand...
Whether you intended to or not, you gave a perfect example of the snobbish elitism that he was talking about.

ZV
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That is the damn truth. I learned long ago that Vi was overkill for 90% of things I did.
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I fail to see how it being full-featured is relevant. I know:
:Q (!) quit
:w save
i insert
dd delete line
x delete current character
/ find (same as "less" / mozilla typeahead)
u undo

For all I could care, those are the only features there are. Where's the problem? It's on EVERY unix system anywhere... if you can afford a supercomputer, why can't I play Tetris on it? If I can afford a 747, why can't I use it in place of a cessna citation? If I can afford vi (it's free, hard drives are big), why can't I use it as a text editor?

After college, I soon realized that Vi was overrated. It is just overkill for most people and most tasks. If you need it to do the job then use it. Otherwise pick a tool that best suits the job.
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It's a functional text editor, and you people say it's got a lot of other features... I still don't see the problem. It's a PITA to learn.
 
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