Re: Adding a simple editor to the base system

[Thor Lancelot Simon <tls%rek.tjls.com@localhost>]

On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 10:05:51AM +0000, ad%netbsd.org@localhost wrote:
> 
> Yes we are. There is plenty about it on the 'net and in books and there it
> is called 'ee'. This is also an argument for not changing the default key
> bindings, however, I don't really care either way.

It's got a very obvious help box which shows the key bindings.  I don't
think we should change them from the default.

I would actually suggest, if we are determined to ship a simple editor
but want it to act like Emacs, that we consider resuscitating the Bell
Labs C Emacs -- it's open source, isn't it?

If the basic rationale here is emergency use by the inexperienced, I
think we can make ee smaller by ripping out a bit more stuff, such as
the paragraph formatting.

One argument I don't buy here is the one I've seen about "...dumping the
user into vi" or so forth.  The installer should *never require* the user
to edit anything by hand.  That, itself, is a design mistake, or a major
limitation of the current implementation, if it is so.

-- 
Thor Lancelot Simon                                        
tls%rek.tjls.com@localhost
    "Even experienced UNIX users occasionally enter rm *.* at the UNIX
     prompt only to realize too late that they have removed the wrong
     segment of the directory structure." - Microsoft WSS whitepaper