vi: I Love You.
Posted at by
Roxy Light
I’m reading a book about the vi editor right now. For those less UNIX-inclined, vi is a command-line based text editor for UNIX systems like Linux, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X. It’s installed on basically every system (in some flavor or another. I prefer strawberry Vim, but I’ve been told the cinnamon variety deserves a second glance) and is remarkably easy to use.
It’s also more powerful than I realized.
The problem is that you need to find a good guide to vi. Its built-in help is wonderful reference, but it can’t get you up and running. For years, I’ve been bound to only a fraction of the commands. No more. Why would I use anything else?
[Cue angry Emacs users]
If my readers are so inclined, I may start posting some vi tips.