Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ucsd!sdcsvax!sdcc6!calmasd!dko
From: dko@calmasd.GE.COM (Dan O'Neill)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Opinion.  TPU, EDT
Message-ID: <2650@calmasd.GE.COM>
Date: 8 Feb 88 20:38:25 GMT
References: <8802060240.AA01341@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: GE Calma, San Diego R&D
Lines: 44

In article <8802060240.AA01341@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> IVANOVIC%VAXR@circus.llnl.GOV ("Vladimir Ivanovic, x3-7786") writes:

>The most fanatical users seem to use the editors with incredibly long
>and steep learning curves like TECO, EMACS and WordStar.  I picked up
>Eve basically without a manual, with only the online help, in what, a
>few days at most.

[This is not a flame, please don't take it as one]

Ok, first of all, I may be a fanatic.  EMACS may not be the "best" or
end-to-all-editors editor, but there are a lot of us out here who use it
for various reasons.  Two of EMACS's greatest advantages, aside from
programability, are its relatively standard user interface and the
ability to run on a variety of hardware.

EMACS has been around since about '76 or '77 (maybe earlier?) and has
changed relatively little from a users point of view.  The internal
programming language has gone through several changes, but the basic
functionality and user interface have remained the same.   There are
some key-stroke differences between various versions, generally minor.

In my experience, another of EMACS's primary strengths is that it runs
on just about every piece of hardware made today.  I currently use
various flavors of EMACS on VAX/VMS, VAX/Ultrix, SUN/BSD, Pyramid/BSD &
SYS V, Apollo/Aegis, DEC-20/TOP-20 and IBM-PC/AT/PS 2 systems.  Each of
these systems have varying keyboard layouts and display technologies,
yet EMACS runs, and runs well, on each of them.  With hardware and
software changing so rapidly, one needs a still point of familiarity.
EMACS provides a common editing environment for numerous platforms.

The learning curve for the basic editing commands in EMACS is not that
long or steep.  Included with the editor is a very good tutorial where
you learn to edit by doing.  Is it not better to learn a single editor,
rather than a new editor for each different machine?  One learning curve
as opposed to several?

This article probably doesn't belong in comp.os.vms. I will end my
discussion here as editors are sort of religion oriented.

Thanks for listening, and may you use the editor of your choice for as
long as you like.
-- 
Dan O'Neill			dko@calmasd.GE.COM
GE Calma R&D			...!sdcsvax!calmasd!dko