Xref: utzoo comp.sources.wanted:10536 alt.sources:1498 alt.sources.d:452 comp.sources.d:4751
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ukma!sean
From: sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.wanted,alt.sources,alt.sources.d,comp.sources.d
Subject: Re: Looking for simple screen-oriented editor
Message-ID: <14133@s.ms.uky.edu>
Date: 13 Feb 90 00:03:05 GMT
References: <3100@usceast.UUCP>
Organization: The Leaning Tower of Patterson Office @ The Univ. of KY
Lines: 29

sridhar@usceast.cs.scarolina.edu (M. A. Sridhar) writes:

|I'm looking for a screen-oriented editor for Unix machines.
|This is intended for students who are
|first-time Unix users, so ideally the editor
|must be simple to use, with lots of on-line help. (The VMS editor KED, or the
|built-in editor for Turbo Pascal, seem to be good examples.)
|It does not need to have all the bells and whistles
|that emacs, or even vi, does. For the moment, I'd like it implemented on an 
|AT&T 3B2/300 running SysV, but perhaps it could be ported to other 
|Unix machines.

It is not necessary to have a stripped down editor for beginning users.
Simply don't try to teach it to them all at once.

For example, vi can be used quite well by learning about 10 commands.
That's not a lot to ask of users. Later, when they want to do more complicated
things, they can learn about them.

If you assume your users are incapable of learning, then you have a
self-fulfilling prophesy, and you will have another dilemma when they
need to move up to more powerful stuff.

Sean
-- 
***  Sean Casey          sean@ms.uky.edu, sean@ukma.bitnet, ukma!sean
***  "May I take this opportunity of emphasizing that there is no cannibalism
***  in the British Navy. Absolutely none, and when I say none, I mean there
***  is a certain amount, more than we are prepared to admit." -MP