[H-GEN] RE: Simple Editors

[Andrae Muys]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
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On Tue, 9 Apr 2002, Rick Phillips wrote:

> [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
> [ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]
> 
> Jeez, I hate to ask the question "What is the meaning to life".

Can I resist the obvious......

> The bystanders have had enough thanks - to each his own - if it does the job
> at the time - use it!  Who cares!

Well the real issue is that the subject of text editors has been mentioned
in a forum with a high percentage of sysadmins and programmers, and now
the thread must run its course.  At least this one has been a novel break
from the traditional vi vs. emacs flamefest punctuated by their sporadic
union as they toast any poor newbie foolish enough to suggest they
might prefer not to learn either.

To have someone seriously push ed as their editor of choice is a breath of
fresh air in what is a very old and venerable religious war.

Naturally to any innocent bystanders this is all slightly absurd, and the
comment is often heard "Does it really matter?".  They are routinely
surprised by the unanticipated response "YES!".

It would be a rare day I would spend less then 80% of my time editing
plain text files in a text editor.  It is not uncommon for me to spend an
entire day doing nothing but occasionally using a shell to select the next
file to edit.

As a result spending an hour to improve my text editing efficiency by 10%
can pay off in a single day, 1% in a fortnight.  Given that your editor
choice has an enormous effect on your text editing efficiency, and
therefore your productivity, it is no wonder text editor choice is one of
the most hotly contested religious wars in computerdom.

Andrae Muys

--
Andrae Muys            
amuys at shortech.com.au  ...most likely other e-mail programs like Eudora
Senior Engineer        are not designed to enable virus replication.
IDMS International        Found in Virus FAQ at http://www.microsoft.com




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