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> most people’s command-line text editor setups are generally more advanced than it Is there any command-line text editor that people actually use to write in

> most people’s command-line text editor setups are generally more advanced than it Is there any command-line text editor that people actually use to write in? My impression is that the only moderately popular ones are ed and sed and that people only use them to make specific edits to files they wrote the bulk of somewhere else.

saagarjha 6y ago
You're joking, right? There are a huge number of people that use Emacs and Vim directly in the terminal; nobody uses ed or sed for general-purpose editing.
- omaranto 6y ago
  Oh, do people call Vim and Emacs command-line editors? I thought command-line programs were ones that either were used exclusively from the shell's command-line (like sed) or that when run presented you with their own command-line (like ed or gnuplot). I thought programs like Vim and Emacs were called "full-screen editors" or said to be TUIs (textual user interfaces).
  - 9935c101ab17a66 6y ago
    Yah I think they are technically 'TUIs', but because they run in the shell, I think the parent comment was confused. Which is understandable IMO — I think most people lump things into either dedicated apps with a GUI, or programs without a full GUI that you run in the shell. But ultimately, you are correct.
    - slightwinder 6y ago
      Though, they don't run in the shell, they run in the terminal.
abjKT26nO8 6y ago
I agree with you that emacs and vim aren't CLI editors. Emacs is a GUI editor and vim is a TUI editor. As to CLI editors... I use cat all the time to make notes. Because it's straightforward. Firing up vim or emacs would trigger a mental context-switch (caused by screen redraw), while cat is a good CLI citizen --- it's the best thing to make quick notes with 0 distractions.
- Scarbutt 6y ago
  Emacs is a TUI too, just like Vim is a GUI too.
  - abjKT26nO8 6y ago
    > Emacs is a TUI too That's an alternative way of using it. And half the things you have in GUI mode stop working. > Vim is a GUI too Are you speaking about GVim? That's still really a terminal with Vim launched. You still can't have e.g. headings in documents rendered at a different font size than the rest of the content. You still have to deal with the nonsense of patched fonts to get nice-looking arrows with powerline. Sounds like TUI to me.

saagarjha 6y ago

You're joking, right? There are a huge number of people that use Emacs and Vim directly in the terminal; nobody uses ed or sed for general-purpose editing.

omaranto 6y ago
Oh, do people call Vim and Emacs command-line editors? I thought command-line programs were ones that either were used exclusively from the shell's command-line (like sed) or that when run presented you with their own command-line (like ed or gnuplot). I thought programs like Vim and Emacs were called "full-screen editors" or said to be TUIs (textual user interfaces).
- 9935c101ab17a66 6y ago
  Yah I think they are technically 'TUIs', but because they run in the shell, I think the parent comment was confused. Which is understandable IMO — I think most people lump things into either dedicated apps with a GUI, or programs without a full GUI that you run in the shell. But ultimately, you are correct.
  - slightwinder 6y ago
    Though, they don't run in the shell, they run in the terminal.

abjKT26nO8 6y ago

I agree with you that emacs and vim aren't CLI editors. Emacs is a GUI editor and vim is a TUI editor. As to CLI editors... I use cat all the time to make notes. Because it's straightforward. Firing up vim or emacs would trigger a mental context-switch (caused by screen redraw), while cat is a good CLI citizen --- it's the best thing to make quick notes with 0 distractions.

Scarbutt 6y ago
Emacs is a TUI too, just like Vim is a GUI too.
- abjKT26nO8 6y ago
  > Emacs is a TUI too That's an alternative way of using it. And half the things you have in GUI mode stop working. > Vim is a GUI too Are you speaking about GVim? That's still really a terminal with Vim launched. You still can't have e.g. headings in documents rendered at a different font size than the rest of the content. You still have to deal with the nonsense of patched fonts to get nice-looking arrows with powerline. Sounds like TUI to me.