Vim is built different

Setup for the overused joke - I've been using vim since I first started using a computer, I just can't quit.

:set nocompat

Why VIM decided to make itself run just like VI (by default) is beyond me. Isn’t the long name “VI Improved”?

Is edlin still around?

Clearly you should install Edit.

https://github.com/microsoft/edit

I'm going to stick with my current process of accidentally opening vim, typing semi-random things that feel like they should work for a minute and then eventually looking up how to quit on my phone.

Just to add: possible need to tap esc first, as your random flailing probably put you in insert mode, or something more exotic.

And only add w if you want to save the file. :q! If you don't

😳

:w = write; or overwrite if the file already exists.

Please don’t give blanket destructive advice.

also worth noting you open vim the first time, you get a huge ass splash screen telling you how to exit

And if you panicked before and fucked up the opened file while hammering on the keyboard:

:q!

:x is also an alternative to save and quit.

Equally valid for the facial expression you'd make upon finding that out.

There's also ZZ 👉😎👉 Same caveats apply, smash that fukken esc key (for bonus points rebind caps lock as esc) then ZZ Top your way out of that shit.

How about :x.

Recently I decided to try ed for real and used it exclusively for a coding project. There is a certain joy in the simplicity, but ultimately I found myself printing lines and searching files more than I liked. And rewriting long lines instead of getting the substitutions wrong again.

try ex

Honestly if there was an award for keybindings for style in terms of the way something like the MLA style guide would describe "good style" in the context of english, Vim would easily win it. It is one of the oldest, most coherent, extendable, fast, joyful and resilient conceptions of how to manipulate text with a keyboard ever created and it is awesome how it is such a compelling idea that it no longer exists as a literal codebase at this point, but rather a style and philosophy of keybindings.

It is shockingly beautiful even if you find it annoying to use in practice (I get it).

For example, the Qutebrowser is just awesome, I don't care if you don't like vim you can't argue with the power, ease of use and minimal UI the system requires in exchange for all the control you could want for navigating web pages without needing a mouse.

The utility of vim keybindings in my opinion extends further into a lot of unexplored accessibility benefits because any vim style input scheme to a program is going to be by definition a nice limited set of inputs someone can custom map to their accessibility hardware or software to have full control over a software and they won't have to worry about needing a mouse at super annoying parts because they know that is against The Core Commandments Of Vim.

When making a custom or 3rd party controller to a software, there is always the problem of how many control inputs are you going to need, some softwares go nuts with unnecessary keybindings for silly things that becomes a nightmare to try to map a custom hardware/software controller to. Vim keybindings on the other hand well... it is the keyboard proper and that is it, boom done....

Nobody sane uses vim as an IDE

True, same people use unix as their IDE and vim as the editor therein.

Nobody sane uses vim as an IDE

Huh? Many people do this. With the right plugins and config it is just as capable as any IDE.

If using vim makes people insane, then what does using ed makes me?

And if not they have sed or ed or echo and cat.

If you're just doing a quick config edit, nano is significantly easier to use and is also present in most distros.

Vi/Vim is useful as a customizable dev environment, but in the present there are better, more feature-rich development tools - unless you are specifically doing a lot of development in a GUI-free system, for some reason.