is "vi" retarded?

[felipe1982]

1) touch file1
2) vi file1
3) press "i" on keyboard
4) press keyboard arrows (up/down/left/right). Letters A->D should start to appear.

do the same, but in step 2) use "vim" in place of "vi". Problem goes away. confused! (Elyssa btw)

[miket]

Hi !

1) touch file1
2) vi file1
3) press "i" on keyboard
4) press keyboard arrows (up/down/left/right). Letters A->D should start to appear.

do the same, but in step 2) use "vim" in place of "vi". Problem goes away. confused! (Elyssa btw)

Vi isn't retarded at all, it is an extremely powerful editor !
To move around use the h,j,k,l keys when not in insert mode.

I've been using vi for over 20 years without a problem ... you're just suffering from lack of "vi" experience

Mike.

[felipe1982]

felipe@mint ~ $ which {vi,vim} | xargs ls -l
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 2008-06-15 18:32 /usr/bin/vi -> /etc/alternatives/vi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 2008-06-15 18:32 /usr/bin/vim -> /etc/alternatives/vim
felipe@mint ~ $ md5sum /usr/bin/vi /usr/bin/vim /etc/alternatives/vi /etc/alternatives/vim
a559a2cc3f9824e57e017a91497909b5 /usr/bin/vi
a559a2cc3f9824e57e017a91497909b5 /usr/bin/vim
a559a2cc3f9824e57e017a91497909b5 /etc/alternatives/vi
a559a2cc3f9824e57e017a91497909b5 /etc/alternatives/vim
felipe@mint ~ $

* they are all the same. Why do they act differently when invoked as "vi" or "vim"?

[miket]

Hi Felipe !

felipe@mint ~ $ which {vi,vim} | xargs ls -l
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 2008-06-15 18:32 /usr/bin/vi -> /etc/alternatives/vi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 2008-06-15 18:32 /usr/bin/vim -> /etc/alternatives/vim
felipe@mint ~ $ md5sum /usr/bin/vi /usr/bin/vim /etc/alternatives/vi /etc/alternatives/vim
a559a2cc3f9824e57e017a91497909b5 /usr/bin/vi
a559a2cc3f9824e57e017a91497909b5 /usr/bin/vim
a559a2cc3f9824e57e017a91497909b5 /etc/alternatives/vi
a559a2cc3f9824e57e017a91497909b5 /etc/alternatives/vim
felipe@mint ~ $

* they are all the same. Why do they act differently when invoked as "vi" or "vim"?

Basically, "vim" is an enhanced version of "vi" but is backwards compatible when called by it's old name

Two programs in one, caters for the "Old Timers" like me who have always used "vi" and the new adventurers to UNIX who know it as "vim"...
Either way it's a great editor which I will use until I pop my clogs

Mike.

[felipe1982]

Ok. I see now. Different invocations make "vi" and "vim" behave differently. Besides having up/down/left/right arrows add letters A, B, C, D to my documents, what else comes to mind?

[miket]

Hi Felipe !

Ok. I see now. Different invocations make "vi" and "vim" behave differently. Besides having up/down/left/right arrows add letters A, B, C, D to my documents, what else comes to mind?

Vim is able to have more than one document open at a time in "Windows" ... I use the term lightly ... unlike vi ... where you swap between files ....
There are many differences .... have a look at This Site for more information.

Mike.

[felipe1982]

thanks

vi isn't retarded