Editor sometimes found in Unix/Linux
My “Emacs versus vi” post still brings in a significant number of page views each month.
Much to my surprise.
You see, I figured more sysadmins, programmers and users would recognize and emphasize the need to get things done over prolonging the great editor holy war.
I’m still a big fan of emacs and it’s one of the first things I’ll look for (and install if needed) when I’m on a new system. But I still keep my vi skills sharp since you’re more likely to find vi on your next Unix/Linux system than you will emacs.
And when I type crontab -e and find that someone (me) has left the EDITOR=vi setting, I might lose a second to switch my brain’s context, but I’m not suddenly left helpless.
Because, (and I repeat), it’s about getting things done, for you, your client, your project. It’s not about flaming the opposing viewpoint or wiping one editor off all your company’s systems and installing the other. More time has been spilled in those efforts than anyone should be comfortable admitting.
Just go get it done. And, if necessary, use your favorite tool.
