[Info-vax] Editors, was: Re: VT keyboard replacement

[alanfe...@gmail.com]

On Monday, November 22, 2021 at 2:03:13 PM UTC-5, Simon Clubley wrote:
> On 2021-11-19, alanfe... at gmail.com <alanfe... at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Friday, November 19, 2021 at 9:56:41 AM UTC-5, Arne Vajhøj wrote: 
> >> 
> >> Second EVE has been the default editor on VMS for a couple of decades 
> >> and I suspect that over 50% of VMS editing is done using EVE 
> >> And we have not been swamped with reports of EVE not working or being 
> >> difficult to get working. So I will assume that in most contexts then 
> >> EVE just work out of the box. 
> > 
> > Well, my experience with EVE is mostly from the late 1980s in graduate school. It was a continual PITA. Default or not, EDT worked at remote labs and to get EVE to work AT ALL was a royal PITA. Maybe 30-some years things are better. 
> >
> So you are judging the editors of today by knowledge obtained 
> 30 years ago ? :-) 

I was simply relating why I never caught on to EVE. After all the trouble I had with it in grad school, I had little incentive to try it later. Every time I gave it a shot it would just slap me in the face again and again. EDT never did that. Well, almost never!!!

Come to think of it, I think it was just the Learn-defined keys you couldn't look up. Yes, you can look up the ones you type commands and keys for.

EDT was always there for me. Yes, other editors have more features and so on, but I almost never needed them. So I stuck with EDT. And when I was using DCL to export a database I found neither editor up to the job. I needed both SET NOTRUNCATE mode and long lines at the same time. Neither fit the bill.

I think my emacs experience was mostly limited to a Stratus machine running Stratus VOS. But the Stratus, being huge and expensive, was eventually decommissioned. 

I found my self on Unix and Linux. And the only editor guaranteed to be on all of them was vi. So I learened vi.

After a 3- or 4-year near total hiatus from VMS I decided to bring TO.COM back to life. I'm really glad EDT now can have as many lines as you need on the screen. I have all my custom key definitions in a single file, easily readable and modifiable. I had no incentive to move to a new editor that almost always failed me. If I were to get a job doing VMS full time, then maybe I would consider EVE again.

Hey, if EVE is good for you, go for it! I'm not stopping you. Yes, in general, EVE is more capable. So what? It's of little help to me. 

Hey, all I asked for was a pointer to some release notes. I didn't mean to start an editor war. And when someone asked how to substitute asdf for zxcv on all lines with poiu using EDT, the answer popped in my head immediately and I had to post it. Then I got sucked in. So be it.

> 
> That sounds about right for some topics or people around here... :-) 
> 
> Simon. 
> 
> PS: $ set response/mode=good_natured :-)
> -- 
> Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP 
> Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.