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just hit "i" to be dropped into insert mode, then just navigate with the arrows and use backspace like in any other editor. Yeah maybe. The default vi config

just hit "i" to be dropped into insert mode, then just navigate with the arrows and use backspace like in any other editor. Yeah maybe. The default vi config that comes with FreeBSD will get out of insert mode if you use the arrow keys to go beyond the end of the line (and maybe some other situations I've forgotten). Editors are extremely personal, there's a pretty good reason that vi vs emacs is one of the eternal flame wars. I would absolutely expect a bit of discomfort and less proficiency with a different computer and a different keyboard. And, quite frankly, I'd be pretty put off by an interviewer who expected I'd hit the ground running with neither apprehension nor mistakes on someone else's computer.

sureaboutthis 7y ago
> The default vi config that comes with FreeBSD will get out of insert mode if you use the arrow keys to go beyond the end of the line No it doesn't.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  No it doesn't. I checked before I made the post on a FreeBSD 12 machine. The stock vi on OSX (vim 8) behaves more "normally".
  - sureaboutthis 7y ago
    I'm on FreeBSD 12 now. No it doesn't. And vim is not vi but vim doesn't do that either.
    - inferiorhuman 7y ago
      Dunno what to tell you. At a prompt, running vi and entering the following keys: i a b c [right arrow] d e f results in vi displaying the text: ab Note that the key f generates a bell as vi is no longer in insert/append mode. If you're seeing different behavior I can only assume you've got wildly different terminal settings, you've configured vi and forgot about it, or have aliased vi to vim or some vi variant from ports. Either way that lends credence to the idea that judging someone for being uncomfortable at a vi prompt is a bad way to interview candidates.
      - skrebbel 7y ago
        I have absolutely no vi knowledge. I just opened an ssh to a vanilla Ubuntu install (digital ocean droplet), tried what you wrote, and I got: abcdef I've been accidentally dropped into vi on countless systems and never have my ability to type "i" and "ESC :wq" (the full extent of my vi skills) failed me. I'm super confused by your comment.

sureaboutthis 7y ago

> The default vi config that comes with FreeBSD will get out of insert mode if you use the arrow keys to go beyond the end of the line No it doesn't.

inferiorhuman 7y ago
No it doesn't. I checked before I made the post on a FreeBSD 12 machine. The stock vi on OSX (vim 8) behaves more "normally".
- sureaboutthis 7y ago
  I'm on FreeBSD 12 now. No it doesn't. And vim is not vi but vim doesn't do that either.
  - inferiorhuman 7y ago
    Dunno what to tell you. At a prompt, running vi and entering the following keys: i a b c [right arrow] d e f results in vi displaying the text: ab Note that the key f generates a bell as vi is no longer in insert/append mode. If you're seeing different behavior I can only assume you've got wildly different terminal settings, you've configured vi and forgot about it, or have aliased vi to vim or some vi variant from ports. Either way that lends credence to the idea that judging someone for being uncomfortable at a vi prompt is a bad way to interview candidates.
    - skrebbel 7y ago
      I have absolutely no vi knowledge. I just opened an ssh to a vanilla Ubuntu install (digital ocean droplet), tried what you wrote, and I got: abcdef I've been accidentally dropped into vi on countless systems and never have my ability to type "i" and "ESC :wq" (the full extent of my vi skills) failed me. I'm super confused by your comment.