[TriLUG] vi(m) #1 of the top ten linux tools admins should know/have

[Jon Carnes]

On Wed, 2005-11-02 at 14:41, Pat Regan wrote:

> 
> Why vi specifically instead of "a text editor?"
> 
Well "vi" is not a gui editor and it's not simply a text editor. Its
command syntax is used in multiple Unix/GNU apps - especially those
designed to work from the command line.

> > It's surprising to an old Unix hound like myself that so much of the
> > newer Linux converts don't know vi. I guess that's really a good thing.
> > Most distros are now easy to manage using GUIs; folks can strive and
> > survive without the command-line if they must.
> > 
> 
> People don't know vi because they don't need to.  There really is no
> excuse for any modern UNIX to not include a simple text editor that an
> average person could sit down and actually use.  Lots of people like vi.
>  Lots of people like Emacs.  Nobody should be told they need to learn
> either one just to edit simple text file in /etc.
> 
Spoken like someone who doesn't *know* vi!


> Why exactly don't the big old school UNIXes ship with something
> self-documenting like Nano, with all the important commands listed at
> the bottom of the screen?
> 
The world was not always as it is today. Computers were not always as
large and full of HD space as they are today. GUI editors don't always
perform locking functions as well as they ought to (at least when
editing as root and modifying configuration files...)

Of course the wheel of life brings things around again and again. Today
we work on Linksys routers and mini-application specific hardware bots
that have very limited space and RAM. You can either modify the images
and then reload them... or work within the limited space and RAM
available to make your modifications directly on the box.

In an environment like that, vi is king!