[aclug-L] editor flamewar: ed is the standard text editor

[Jeff Schaller <schaller@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Copied from: http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/ed.msg.html


From: patl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Patrick J. LoPresti)
Subject: The True Path (long)
Date: 11 Jul 91 03:17:31 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs,alt.slack

When I log into my Xenix system with my 110 baud teletype, both vi
*and* Emacs are just too damn slow.  They print useless messages
like, 'C-h for help' and '"foo" File is read only'.  So I use the
editor that doesn't waste my VALUABLE time.

Ed, man!  !man ed

ED(1)               UNIX Programmer's Manual                ED(1)

NAME
     ed - text editor

SYNOPSIS
     ed [ - ] [ -x ] [ name ]
DESCRIPTION
     Ed is the standard text editor.
---

Computer Scientists love ed, not just because it comes first
alphabetically, but because it's the standard.  Everyone else
loves ed because it's ED!

"Ed is the standard text editor."

And ed doesn't waste space on my Timex Sinclair.  Just look:

-rwxr-xr-x  1 root          24 Oct 29  1929 /bin/ed
-rwxr-xr-t  4 root     1310720 Jan  1  1970 /usr/ucb/vi
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root  5.89824e37 Oct 22  1990 /usr/bin/emacs

Of course, on the system *I* administrate, vi is symlinked to ed.
Emacs has been replaced by a shell script which 1) Generates a
syslog message at level LOG_EMERG; 2) reduces the user's disk
quota by 100K; and 3) RUNS ED!!!!!!

"Ed is the standard text editor."

Let's look at a typical novice's session with the mighty ed:

golem$ ed

?
help
?
?
?
quit
?
exit
?
bye
?
hello? 
?
eat flaming death
?
^C
?
^C
?
^D
?

---
Note the consistent user interface and error reportage.  Ed is
generous enough to flag errors, yet prudent enough not to
overwhelm the novice with verbosity.

"Ed is the standard text editor."

Ed, the greatest WYGIWYG editor of all.

ED IS THE TRUE PATH TO NIRVANA!  ED HAS BEEN THE CHOICE OF
EDUCATED AND IGNORANT ALIKE FOR CENTURIES!  ED WILL NOT CORRUPT
YOUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS!!  ED IS THE STANDARD TEXT EDITOR!  
ED MAKES THE SUN SHINE AND THE BIRDS SING AND THE GRASS GREEN!!

When I use an editor, I don't want eight extra KILOBYTES of
worthless help screens and cursor positioning code!  I just want
an EDitor!! Not a "viitor".  Not a "emacsitor".  Those aren't even
WORDS!!!! ED! ED! ED IS THE STANDARD!!!

TEXT EDITOR.

When IBM, in its ever-present omnipotence, needed to base their
"edlin" on a UNIX standard, did they mimic vi?  No.  Emacs?  
Surely you jest.  They chose the most karmic editor of all.  The
standard.

Ed is for those who can *remember* what they are working on.  If
you are an idiot, you should use Emacs.  If you are an Emacs, you
should not be vi.  If you use ED, you are on THE PATH TO
REDEMPTION.  THE SO-CALLED "VISUAL" EDITORS HAVE BEEN PLACED HERE
BY ED TO TEMPT THE FAITHLESS.  DO NOT GIVE IN!!!  THE MIGHTY ED
HAS SPOKEN!!!

?

-- 

-jeff
--
Apathy: If we don't take care of the customer, 
maybe they'll stop bugging us.
http://www.despair.com


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