Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!mailrus!iuvax!bsu-cs!dhesi From: dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: vi vs emacs in a student enviro Summary: ultimate solution Keywords: :-) Message-ID: <3418@bsu-cs.UUCP> Date: 14 Jul 88 20:32:51 GMT References: <370@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU> <47800011@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> <1045@ficc.UUCP> Reply-To: dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, Indiana Lines: 22 In article <1045@ficc.UUCP> peter@ficc.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes: >There does not exist a decent editor on UNIX, or for that matter any other >system I have ever used. Amen to that. The problem is that the average keyboard does not easily allow out-of-band signalling. Hence the eternal three-way war between keypad users (hunt-and-peck typists), Emacs users (meta/coke bottle/shift/alt/control keys) and vi users (constant mode switching). My own solution to this has been to invent an editor that directly interprets your brain waves to know if what you are typing is text or a command. A slight scowl on your face creates the right type of brain wave and causes what you type to become a command; a slight smile causes text input. A beneficial side-effect is the exercise: at a furious rate of editing, it is possible to burn as many as 100 calories per hour through the facial muscles alone. However, a startling noise, or the sudden appearance of a loved one, can cause the user to unconsciously change facial expressions and unexpectedly enter the wrong mode. Therefore for the time being the editor is still experimental. -- Rahul Dhesi UUCP:!{iuvax,pur-ee,uunet}!bsu-cs!dhesi