Crazy thought: DId the guys at FTL prefer Vi over Emacs

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slickrcbd
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Crazy thought: DId the guys at FTL prefer Vi over Emacs

Post by slickrcbd »

I just had a crazy thought when the eternal debate about the editors Emacs and Vi showed up on another forum.
Somebody mentioned it as "an argument that will never be resolved between the Worshipers of Vi and the Cult of Emacs".
Suddenly I thought of Dungeon Master and the Alter of Vi where you resurrect the characters.
Was that a hint of their preference for the editor Vi over Emacs?

Just a crazy thought. Just for reference, a couple years after I got the Apple IIGS version of Dungeon Master (new, from a brick & mortar store), I got a copy of the Apple IIGS port of Emacs from Software of the Month Club, so those programs are indeed that old. Whether the guys at FTL had any experience with Unix (no Linux yet) I am not sure.

Anyways, just a humorous thought since I've heard fans of Vi called "Worshipers of Vi" and fans of Emacs called "Members of the Cult of Emacs" as far back as 1995 on Usenet. I'm just surprised I didn't connect it back then, since I was actually still playing Dungeon Master on my actual Apple IIGS in 1995.
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Re: Crazy thought: DId the guys at FTL prefer Vi over Emacs

Post by Ameena »

Never herad of these things that you're talking about but I figured that "Vi" just came from the word "vital/vitality", ie "life".
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terkio
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Re: Crazy thought: DId the guys at FTL prefer Vi over Emacs

Post by terkio »

Yes, indeed, VI is the text editor of old Linux geeks. A very old editor from UNIX.
The pro: Vi is extremely efficient when used to it, stokes are optimised for very fast text editing. This editor is available on every UNIX and LINUX environment.
The con: Vi is a pain in the neck when used to full screen editors, todays standard. Plenty of friendly easy text editors are available on all environment.

Vi as a symbol for water and life....Could that be from the french for life "la vie" .
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
slickrcbd
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Re: Crazy thought: DId the guys at FTL prefer Vi over Emacs

Post by slickrcbd »

Emacs is just as old, and even more efficient. The debate between the two is like the debate on abortion, it will never be resolved, and like abortion we have our own Roe Vs Wade in the fact that Vi got included in every distro because one or two unrelated config components vital to the system uses it for an interface. Thus Vi "won" simply because it is guaranteed to be there, much like how I.E. "won" over Netscape in '90s.

I've seen debates on the two take on religious fervor on Usenet, with borderline religious overtones at times, especially once a flame war gets going. Hence "Cult of Emacs" and "Worshipers of Vi".
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