Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!freedom!avdms8!jpc From: jpc@avdms8.msfc.nasa.gov (J. Porter Clark) Newsgroups: comp.sources.wanted Subject: SUMMARY: Super-simple UNIX editor Keywords: simple UNIX text editor simped dte emacs elisp WordStar Message-ID: Date: 12 Jun 91 20:03:12 GMT Sender: root@freedom.msfc.nasa.gov (Super-User) Organization: NASA/MSFC Lines: 57 My question was: > I'm looking for a text editor that runs under UNIX and is so simple > that the MS-DOS community could use it. It doesn't have to do > complicated stuff. > > I have users who would like to use the mailers and newsreaders on my > system but who don't want to have to learn vi or emacs to do so. I received a few replies and have not really had a chance to evaluate the possibilities, but I've received several requests for a summary already, so here it is. If I run across a really good package, I'll post again. Contributing replies were: gillham@edmund.cs.andrews.edu (Andrew Gillham) jik@cats.UCSC.EDU (Jonathan Kamens) amos shapir allan@eskimo.celestial.com (Christopher Stewart) Tony Foiani (afoiani@nmsu.edu) Suggested solutions were: 1. simped: Generally thought to be what I needed, but slightly buggy. I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to. 2. dte. Ditto. 3. emacs: Use either emacs in its most basic form, without a .emacs, or use microemacs, or use emacs with the WordStar macros, or write my own elisp interface. This didn't appeal to me at first, but I'm still looking into it. The first bunch of users I showed emacs to seemed to think of it as yet another editor they didn't have time to learn. BTW, some of my users aren't too hot with WordStar either. I haven't written any elisp myself and would just as soon not reinvent the wheel. 4. edit: Yes, the one that's a link to vi. Doesn't really do it for me because it's a line editor. 5. Sift through the comp.sources.* archives and archie to find editors and try the most promising-looking. Actually, this was just exactly what I was trying to avoid. If the above editors don't work out, that's where I'll head next. Several people have told me that they have similar requirements but can't seem to find anything that really does the job. Not encouraging. It seems to me that it's hard to defend UNIX against charges of "expert-friendliness-only" with this type of experience. I haven't listed where to get these packages because I figure that you netters know how to locate them by now. If not, I'll be glad to help. (BTW, I did notice that all the sources for simped that archie knows about are in Europe.) -- J. Porter Clark jpc@avdms8.msfc.nasa.gov