Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!husc6!think!ames!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpda!hpsemc!bd
From: bd@hpsemc.HP.COM (bob desinger)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Erase/kill on login
Message-ID: <570005@hpsemc.HP.COM>
Date: 24 Mar 88 22:45:24 GMT
References: <263@stcns3.stc.oz>
Organization: HP SEMC, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 32

Fai Lau (ugfailau@sunybcs.uucp) sneers:
> 	Hey, you can never tell. There are people using
> emacs, is that right? I mean, can you say "arrow keys?"

I know lots of people who use emacs and who never use the arrow keys.
(I'm one.)  But that's beside the point.  The nice thing about
computers is that they're flexible enough to accomodate both kinds of
people: ones who choose arrow keys and ones who choose C-n and C-p.
Or ^H/^U and #/@.  Computers---really, programmers---should give
people the freedom to use their preferences.

> 	BTW, I'm still amazed at how those people actually
> came up all these features for history substitution. Does anyone
> really use those? Why can't it be simple like that of VMS?

Assuming you mean csh's jumble of !, :p, :s, :gs, ?, and other
history-fetching commands, yes, there are people who use them.  (I
won't bother to say who this time; you can guess by now, right?)  If
you don't like all those characters or don't want to remember them,
ignore them.

Anyway, now I use the Korn shell.  It greatly simplifies
history-fetching because it uses my editor's commands.  I no longer
need to remember two paradigms and command sets in order to move
around in either my history stack or my files.  I suspect that's what
your real argument is about VMS---command editing and history fetching
should be natural.  [The VMS history stack is accessed through the
arrow keys on the terminal; you move back and forth by pressing the
arrow keys, then editing as desired.]

One man's meat,
-- bd