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From: mhcoffin@watmsg.uwaterloo.ca (Michael Coffin)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: minimum vi command set, was: Wanted: Easy, Full-screen Editor
Message-ID: <1990Oct9.125246.14689@watmath.waterloo.edu>
Date: 9 Oct 90 12:52:46 GMT
References: <1990Oct4.153022.13721@news.iastate.edu> <1846@calmasd.Prime.COM> <1990Oct9.013103.18799@mthvax.cs.miami.edu>
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I'd reconsider emacs.  Create a version with almost all the funky keys
bound to no-op.  All you really need are the cursor keys, backspace,
and delete.

A few years ago I tried to teach a computer-shy person to use vi.  It
was a disaster.  The biggest problem was the multiple modes---she
continually typed commands into the buffer, or text as commands.
After a week or so, in desperation, I introduced her to emacs.  She
immediately started typing.  Five minutes later she asked me if there
was a way to delete whole words, or something like that.  I told her
how.  A little while later she hit a wrong key and got in the
minibuffer; I had to tell her about ctrl-g.  Finally, half an hour
later I told her how to exit.  Her comment was This is easy!  Why did
you try to make me use that AWFUL vi?

-mike