Editors at War

[christopher_wolf]

So, which editor do you like better?

Vim or Emacs?

BBEdit is also in the running, as they say, along with LaTeX (which isn't really an editor); prominently included also are Framemaker, WordPerfect, and Word and anything else you can think up of along those lines; OO Writer if you want, but you had *better* give a good reason.

Me? Oh I don't know...I rather like vi; simple, easy to use, doesn't require keys that I don't have on my keyboard (Emacs likes to do that you see) and doesn't generally invent new ways to torture you (Emacs happens to be fond of that). Neither does vim require you to do finger yoga to get the various key combos. Emacs, on the other hand, would like to rip your pinky fingers off and stab you in the eyes with them; it does this, some would say too easily, with the key Ctrl and Meta combos and might very well invent several such combos just to see you get a case of Emacs Pinky ( http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?EmacsPinky ); seriously, it makes the shortcuts in Framemaker (no dream, to be sure) and Maya look like childsplay, if you have a good enough memory to actually remember what the Emacs keybindings are that is.

Not that I hate Emacs, which I do, or that I am saying it is the worst WYSIWYG editor I have ever encountered, which it is, but simply that Vim is that much better than Emacs. If I am in for a big paper or abstract, I will then use LaTeX, with either LEd or TeXnicCenter for the IDE, to typeset it and include the formulae. Elvis is also a good vi clone as well.

Or I use Framemaker if I want to do a quick draft job of it. Most of the time, I use Vim or Notepad if I want to make a quick note.

Come on, state your preferences and give your reasons; all in good fun really.

[AlphaKilo470]

Hmm, aren't these "war" threads against our rules? Hmm, I guess we could try out a loophole or some bending.

Well, anyways, as far as editors are concerned, Tex Edit on my ol' PowerBook G3 (as well as all my other vintage PowerBooks) and notepad on my PCs.

[christopher_wolf]

Hmm, aren't these "war" threads against our rules? Hmm, I guess we could try out a loophole or some bending.

Yes, as this is for Fun and the Learning of All.

By the way, the title is actually inspired by a song about these editors you know. Done tastefully, this is a highly entertaining topic.

Interröbang Cartel - Editors at War

( http://www.interrobangcartel.com/songs/editors.mp3 )

[BillMorrow]

a papal (no, NOT paypal, Papal!) dispensation is bestowed upon chris..

and this falls into the category of "Quis custodes, Ipsos custodiet" or, who will guard the bank guards..

much like my well attended and gentlemanly argued "intelligent(?) design vs. evolution that graced these pages last year..

OS wars are prohibited though, since they usually wind up with parcels that tick being sent to the various combatants..

[bill bolton]

Vim or Emacs?

I'm still using MINCE (Mince Is Not Complete Emacs)!

Cheers,

Bill

[christopher_wolf]

Vim or Emacs?

I'm still using MINCE (Mince Is Not Complete Emacs)!

Cheers,

Bill

OK, that is one vote from the recursive-acronym loving Bill Bolton; any others?

Come on everybody, don't tell me that you don't use a text editor at all. Something, anything!

[jdhurst]

For text editing - quick and simple:

1. In Windows I use UltraEdit. Simply cannot be beat in Windows. I use it for editing files via FTP that reside at my ISP.

2. In UNIX, I use PICO. I don't care for EMACS, and I never learned enough about VI to use it. I like PICO because the needed keys are at the bottom of the screen.
... JD Hurst

[christopher_wolf]

For text editing - quick and simple:
1. In Windows I use UltraEdit. Simply cannot be beat in Windows. I use it for editing files via FTP that reside at my ISP.

I have used UltraEdit as well; more recently, though, I have been using RemotePad.

See, RemotePad @ ; http://www.tinyapps.org/text.html

[rjm1135]

This thread reminds of a quote I once read:

"vi - a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there"

It is sometimes a painful experience trying to explain how to use vi to non-linux type people.

Cheers,
Rob.

[sugo]

Notepad2 for Windows

http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html

[jdhurst]

I have tried a number of Windows editors, but the reasons I stick with UltraEdit are twofold: 1. It can edit in columns and I like that feature; 2. It can edit large files - I have edited files as large as 125Mb with UltraEdit. Most editors cannot do these things. Still the ones mentioned are also good if they fit your needs.
... JD Hurst

[JHEM]

1. In Windows I use UltraEdit.

Another vote for UltraEdit.

(Further proof that John is a genius!)

Regards,

James

[GomJabbar]

Come on everybody, don't tell me that you don't use a text editor at all. Something, anything!

OK, you asked for it. Does EDLIN count?