Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!diku!carllp
From: carllp@diku.dk (Carl-Lykke Pedersen)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: EMACS better than Vi?
Message-ID: <3810@diku.dk>
Date: 8 May 88 11:19:08 GMT
References: <1839@mhres.mh.nl>
Organization: DIKU, U of Copenhagen, DK
Lines: 42

In article <1839@mhres.mh.nl> jv@mhres.mh.nl (Johan Vromans) writes:
>[Lets start a new editors war ...:-)]
                                  ^^^

>When dealing with basic editing: Emacs is (or can easily be configured) a
>simple
> [...]

>This makes Emacs (and its clones) suitable for novice users (e.g.
>secretaries, or people who only access the machine for the netnews of e-mail.

The problem for novice users is that they still have all the other 
commands. One false move and you are *dead*!
Have you ever tried typing 'C-x n' by accident? Or 'C-w', or 'C-x l' or ...
If you know wery little about emacs it can be very hard to get out of this.

And how do you get out? 'C-c' gives access to even more bizare commands,
'C-z' doesn't always work, 'C-\' doesn't work, 'ESC ESC' set you in the
most bizare part of emacs!

Well, get help!
The help system is such a gigantic system. You wouldn't know were to begin.
If you make an apropos, you either get 20 pages or none!

About this editor war: I think vi is worse in the help-aspect and with 
the key-strokes, but it sure is smaller!
Well, back to an *EDITOR*.

I think it would be a good thing to make a special novice-mode in emacs.
The only commands should be the ones you mentioned, a (better) tutorial,
a way to get into the real emacs and a usefull user-interface with the 
undefined keys.

>For experts - 

ITS GREAT!
I don't know how I lived without it, but then again, maybe I didn't!

>I prefer emacs, but that's a personal opinion.

CLp
.