Based on the comments, and the fact that none of the differentiating factors are ones that are truly significant to me, it looks like I just need to spend more time with vim. I'm aware of basic features; I just have to find the tutorials I tried to go through a while back, and (of course) put my own installation of it on my thumbdrive.
And, as a backup, learn some basic emacs, or possibly try pico out. I already know PFE pretty well, but there's no upgrade path with it (which is a liability on the ever-shiftin' Windows platform) and there's no source access, so I can't modify it should I feel the need. I need a backup that's open and findable for whatever OS I'm using next week, or year, or decade...looks like vim is it, and then a little bit of some second editor.
Jeez, this is like choosing a major. :\
Re:Windows?
chaoticset on 2005-05-25T14:46:58
I forgot to mention I was looking for something I could use on any system, and that I knew there was a vim for Windows of some form, but that I'd never investigated them. (But I meant to.:) ) My disgust over the standstill of PFE and my need to get back to text modes in general use (because while GUIs are excellent ways for me to organize certain things (say, LiveJournal), it's a really crappy way for me to get things done) makes me think it's time to investigate them properly.
Actually, it's worse. This is a decision that will affect your life permanently!
Anyway, if you're going with Vim, subscribe the vim@vim.org mailing list (Help on vim and vim usage).
Check it out for some time. It's one of the greatest advantages of Vim: the support!
That one is one of the best mailing lists out there
some time
jmm on 2005-05-25T14:10:16
Give vim some time and you will learn it. It takes a little while.I found vi to be like perl in one important way. I could use it effectively after learning a small subset of its capabilities. Then, every 6 months or so, I'd read through the manual again and add 4 or 5 more idioms to my repetoire. When the subsequent 6 month iteration came along, 2 or 3 of those idioms would have stuck and become part of my regular working set. Then, I'd be ready to try adding some more (possibly retrying ones that hadn't stuck before). Eventually, the interval between reading the manual stretched out to a few years, as I'd reached the point where idioms that I could still learn were ones that I didn't use often enough for them to enter into my fingertips.
Once every decade or so during this process, I'd read a description of some emacs variant but eventually give up - where vi(m) uses n operators and m selectors to get n*m different "things that can be done", emacs uses n*m operators that mostly have to all be learned independently. The first 2 or 3 movement variants for many of the operators use a consistant ctrl-foo, ctrl-X foo, meta-foo; but then there are exceptions to those, and the remaining possible movement variants of the same operation are somewhat arbitrary and perhaps not even present. This dates back to the days when having a whole megabyte of main memory was luxury, and EMACS was understood to mean Eight Megabytes And Constantly Swapping.
Re:some time
chaoticset on 2005-05-25T14:44:19
I'm not so good with getting myself to function in iterative integration, but I'm trying to change that. I really need to.:) Your description of how to learn vim makes me think that this is a good chance to try. I have a tendency to try to learn everything at once, and it never really works. The only things where I consistently learn are the things that don't really have much by way of manuals or have tutorials that make you follow step by step. (Speaking of which, it occurs to me now that vim has a tutorial. Maybe that's where I should start; I never tried using it before.)
