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The truth is, Vim gives you lovely model editing and full use of the mouse, it isn't either or, you get both! ":set mouse=a" and you can use it like you probab

The truth is, Vim gives you lovely model editing and full use of the mouse, it isn't either or, you get both! ":set mouse=a" and you can use it like you probably expect, select stuff, move around the file, use your scroll-wheel, etc. Remember with no .vimrc vim defaults to vi emulation mode for historical reasons. ":set nocompatible" to fix that, compatible mode turns off a lot of the wonderful Vim features us Vimmers have come to love. > * I am moving the cursor, but I want to enter text. To do so, I need to enter colon, i, Enter, then my first text entry. ... you can enter insert mode a variety of ways, i, I, o, O, a, A, etc -- each has a specific meaning. > * I am entering text, but I want to move the cursor. To do so, I need to type Esc, Esc, then commence moving the cursor. ... you just hit escape to go back to normal mode, which generally pay dividends on that single keypress with an better group of movement keys (move by word, sentence, paragraph, tag, search, etc). Or just use the mouse (works perfectly well, doesn't even change the mode, set mouse=a)! If you are in insert mode, you remain in it, same for normal mode! > * If while entering text, I want to do something besides move the cursor, I need to type Esc, colon, then a command letter, then its arguments. ... actually, vims insert mode has many features for editing without leaving it for convenience, C-W, C-U, C-J, C-M, C-N, C-P, C-R and a bunch more for deleting words, lines, interacting with registers, etc. > No, in any other modern editor, I wold pass the mouse cursor across the desired characters Sure, and you can do that in vim (console or gui, works in both with mouse=a), but some of us (myself included) consider this an inferior way to select 3 words via sloppy indirect abstracted pixel pointing. Not to mention pulling your hands off the keyboard... to the mouse, then back again re-seating to continue typing. Mice are for FPS games, not selecting text! EDIT: Even if Vim someday dies (decades from now maybe), modes have spread, I use modes in Word, Outlook, Visual Studio, Xcode, Sublime, Eclipse, Firefox, Chrome even on my ZSH prompt. Once you get used to modes based editing, it is an amazing addition to any editor or GUI, and people keep creating plugins so Vim mode lives on! Editing text hasn't change radially, because text hasn't changed radically... the reason emacs and vim live on is because of fitness for the task at hand, editing text.

lutusp 13y ago
> The truth is, Vim gives you lovely model editing and full use of the mouse, it isn't either or, you get both! ":set mouse=a" and you can use it like you probably expect, select stuff, move around the file, use your scroll-wheel, etc. Thereby allowing vim to become almost as efficient as a modern editor, specifically by disabling those traits that make vim vim. > Once you get used to modes based editing, it is an amazing addition to any editor or GUI ... That would be why why modern editor designers make sure to include a modes mode, to appeal to time travelers visiting from earlier times. Yes, I'm kidding -- no one wants an interface that requires any more than the absolute minimum of either keystrokes or arcana unique to one editor. > ... the reason emacs and vim live on is because of fitness for the task at hand, editing text. As to the thread's topic, this is false. Vi and vim aren't as efficient as a modern editor, which is why most current computer programming activity uses tools designed with a modern computer -- and a modern computer user -- in mind. I could easily write an editor much more efficient than vi/vim -- I know this because I did, and it became very popular -- and its advantages would become obvious to all but True Believers. As soon as someone invented the control key and its purpose, and well before Douglas Engelbart invented the mouse, the retirement clock started ticking for vi and vim. It's still ticking, but it seems not everyone can hear it.

lutusp 13y ago

> The truth is, Vim gives you lovely model editing and full use of the mouse, it isn't either or, you get both! ":set mouse=a" and you can use it like you probably expect, select stuff, move around the file, use your scroll-wheel, etc. Thereby allowing vim to become almost as efficient as a modern editor, specifically by disabling those traits that make vim vim. > Once you get used to modes based editing, it is an amazing addition to any editor or GUI ... That would be why why modern editor designers make sure to include a modes mode, to appeal to time travelers visiting from earlier times. Yes, I'm kidding -- no one wants an interface that requires any more than the absolute minimum of either keystrokes or arcana unique to one editor. > ... the reason emacs and vim live on is because of fitness for the task at hand, editing text. As to the thread's topic, this is false. Vi and vim aren't as efficient as a modern editor, which is why most current computer programming activity uses tools designed with a modern computer -- and a modern computer user -- in mind. I could easily write an editor much more efficient than vi/vim -- I know this because I did, and it became very popular -- and its advantages would become obvious to all but True Believers. As soon as someone invented the control key and its purpose, and well before Douglas Engelbart invented the mouse, the retirement clock started ticking for vi and vim. It's still ticking, but it seems not everyone can hear it.