The End of the Editor Wars

jeremy · 05-12-2015, 10:52 AM

Quote:

For years, the text editors Vi (and its successor Vim) and Emacs have been seen as rivals. In recent years, the rivalry has been largely a subject of jokes, but in the days before the desktop, it was serious enough, and the subject of endless flame wars. Even now, you hardly count as a hacker if you haven't taken sides, although taking sides can be dangerous in itself; I know of at least one Emacs user who lost their chance of a job at a company where the standard was Vim. Nobody seems to have noticed yet that the editor wars are over, or that Vim won handily.

When I first became involved in free software, the distinction between Vi and Emacs supporters seemed real. Emac supporters in my unscientific observations, seemed to be older on the whole, although Vi had its old-timers as well. Just as Apple users are supposed to be, Emac users seem more intuitive, and Vi users more pragmatic. For a while, it even seemed to me that Emac supporters grew in numbers as you approached the Atlantic seaboard, although I now question that observation. But over the last fifteen years, Emacs users shrank in number until in 2015 it is only one of many editors.

I became aware of this shift eight months ago, when I was technical editor for the latest edition of a Unix and Linux primer. The book had grown with each edition, and the writers were looking for cuts. For a while, they considered paring down mention of Emacs to a few sentences in passing, but, being well aware of the editing wars, in the end they settled for offering a chapter on Emacs online as a bonus for readers.

This decision was my first indication that the times had changed, but the LinuxQuestions Members Choice Awards for 2013 and 2014 suggest to me that the decision was sensible. In those two years, Emacs polled 8% and 9%, while Vi and Vim together polled 37% and 38% -- over four and a half times more than Emacs.

LinuxQuestions, of course, is a specialty site, its readers consisting of experts and beginners who are advanced enough to have found their way to the site. But a command line text editor is an expert tool by definition, so the poll probably reflects the opinion of users knowledgeable enough to make a choice, especially since it was consistent over two years.

Moreover, even if you assume a broad margin of error, the pollings aren't even close. With all the various text editors available today, Vi and Vim continue to be the choice of over a third of users, while Emacs well back in the pack, no longer a competitor for the most popular text editor.

More at LinuxPro Magazine...

--jeremy

Myk267 · 05-14-2015, 12:12 AM

Vim users are all too easily tricked into voting online. They've given away their population numbers so the Emacs warriors (who handily outnumber the vimmers, no doubt) can handily hack away and convert those in the wrong!

Timothy Miller · 05-14-2015, 07:30 AM

I actually not long ago took the training for Linux+, and vi(m) has 1/2 a chapter devoted to it, while emacs is mentioned 1 time as "another editor".

frankbell · 05-14-2015, 09:07 PM

There is a reason that, when you say "vim," the first word that springs to mind is "vigor."

(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

dugan · 05-15-2015, 02:59 PM

Don't discount EMACs entirely; the command-line editing shortcuts in most shells (including BASH) are based on EMACS.

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-15-2015, 04:39 PM

EMACS has a text editor included in it?

vim FTW!

Keith Hedger · 05-15-2015, 06:39 PM

I tried emacs and its keyboard shortcuts once and my fingers are still undergoing physio-therapy to repair the damage

astrogeek · 05-15-2015, 06:58 PM

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Emac supporters in my unscientific observations, seemed to be older on the whole, although Vi had its old-timers as well.

Vi(m) users only seem old because they are immortal, and wise.

Emacs users seem old because they emulate RMS, though he may still be wise.

dugan · 05-15-2015, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Hedger

I tried emacs and its keyboard shortcuts once and my fingers are still undergoing physio-therapy to repair the damage

You didn't have the keyboard that Emacs was designed for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-cadet_keyboard

Keith Hedger · 05-15-2015, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dugan

You didn't have the keyboard that Emacs was designed for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-cadet_keyboard

You mean I didn't have the fingers emacs was designed for!

Myk267 · 05-17-2015, 01:15 AM

Do the fingers made for Vim include a 8" pinky finger for hitting the Esc key?

TobiSGD · 05-17-2015, 04:32 AM

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Originally Posted by dugan

Don't discount EMACs entirely; the command-line editing shortcuts in most shells (including BASH) are based on EMACS.

Unless you pass the appropriate option in your config file to switch it to VI mode.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myk267

Do the fingers made for Vim include a 8" pinky finger for hitting the Esc key?

Just switch the Esc key with Caps/Lock. Seriously, who uses Caps/Lock anyways?

dugan · 05-18-2015, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

Just switch the Esc key with Caps/Lock. Seriously, who uses Caps/Lock anyways?

That's a really good idea.

Especially if you're using a wireless keyboard with no caps-lock light.

TobiSGD · 05-18-2015, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dugan

That's a really good idea.

Especially if you're using a wireless keyboard with no caps-lock light.

The Caps/Lock light doesn't matter, if you switch the keys with xmodmap the light is included with the switch. If you are a gamer though it is a good idea to set up a keyboard shortcut to toggle the switch, since some games ignore those settings.

Myk267 · 05-19-2015, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

Unless you pass the appropriate option in your config file to switch it to VI mode.

Just switch the Esc key with Caps/Lock. Seriously, who uses Caps/Lock anyways?

I thought I was setting up a pretty good fork on my point, and then later I thought, "But what about remapping caps lock to Esc? Nah, nobody will think of that..."

That's a pretty good use for caps lock. When I was making an effort to play around with vim I really liked using the 'j-k' two-finger roll to get back to normal mode.