4 ms·

"I've seen [visual] editors like that, but I don't feel a need for them. I don't want to see the state of the file when I'm editing." - Ken Thompson (author of

by mhd 16y ago

"I've seen [visual] editors like that, but I don't feel a need for them. I don't want to see the state of the file when I'm editing." - Ken Thompson (author of grep) (That was a while ago. Apparently he now uses sam)

brazzy 16y ago
I have a Unix book from 1984, in which vi is described as "this new editor which has more features than a normal user would ever want to know about, and as a consequence is a huge memory hog".
- mhd 16y ago
  Didn't vi come out in '76?
  - kragen 16y ago
    It's present in the 3BSD distribution I have from 1979, from tuhs.org. I don't think any copies of 2BSD survive. I think '76 is about the time Sixth Edition came out, so I don't think it's likely that vi started that early.
    - mhd 16y ago
      I just googled it, and 1976 seems to be the common release date, but without any references. On this page[1], it says that BSD (1977) had ex, and 2BSD includes vi, so that would make the first public release 1978. Considering the age of Unix, calling vi new in 1984 would still make little sense, but maybe the book mentioned was actually written long before that date. [1]: http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/kirkmck.html http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/kirkmck.html
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
Avshalom 16y ago
I think it might have been Richie who said about vi that it was designed for an age and technology that simply don't exist anymore. It's a sentiment that can be applied to ed as well. ed is designed for a time when bandwidth was minuscule and every one wrote their programs out on paper for the first dozen iterations. Of course you didn't need to see the state of the file, you had it on paper in front of you. All you needed was the state of whatever line number the compiler was choking on. Today everyone (for most values of everyone) composes in the editor so we need an editor that is good at composing as well as editing. and composing strongly benefits from context.

by mhd 16y ago

brazzy 16y ago

I have a Unix book from 1984, in which vi is described as "this new editor which has more features than a normal user would ever want to know about, and as a consequence is a huge memory hog".

mhd 16y ago
Didn't vi come out in '76?
- kragen 16y ago
  It's present in the 3BSD distribution I have from 1979, from tuhs.org. I don't think any copies of 2BSD survive. I think '76 is about the time Sixth Edition came out, so I don't think it's likely that vi started that early.
  - mhd 16y ago
    I just googled it, and 1976 seems to be the common release date, but without any references. On this page[1], it says that BSD (1977) had ex, and 2BSD includes vi, so that would make the first public release 1978. Considering the age of Unix, calling vi new in 1984 would still make little sense, but maybe the book mentioned was actually written long before that date. [1]: http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/kirkmck.html http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/kirkmck.html
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]

Avshalom 16y ago

I think it might have been Richie who said about vi that it was designed for an age and technology that simply don't exist anymore. It's a sentiment that can be applied to ed as well. ed is designed for a time when bandwidth was minuscule and every one wrote their programs out on paper for the first dozen iterations. Of course you didn't need to see the state of the file, you had it on paper in front of you. All you needed was the state of whatever line number the compiler was choking on. Today everyone (for most values of everyone) composes in the editor so we need an editor that is good at composing as well as editing. and composing strongly benefits from context.