On Thu, 12 Feb 2009, Arnaud Lacombe wrote:
"If you want to edit a file type 'ee file', make your modifications, then press Ctrl and 'c', enter 'w', enter the name of the file you just edited [be sure you didn't make mistake], then press Ctrl and 'c', enter 'q' and then 'y' and ENTER. If that fails, press ESC, then 'a', and finally 'y'." This is with ee version 1.4.1 from FreeBSD 7.0. I think we don't have the same definition of "easy to use". This editor provide direct shortcut to edit text and do advanced things, but you need complex typing to just save a file, and quit. It has two different path to quit and each path ask a different question, one opposed to the other. It always asks which file to save to even if one was specified on the command line. If you make a change to a file, save this change and try to quit, it will still tells you that you that "changes have been made". vi(1)'s MMI is a pure pleasure compared to ee(1)'s.
I find vi easier and more pleasant to use than ee, but then I
prefer vi to any number of other editors. Unfortunately (or
possibly fortunately), we're not discussing what I like, but
what a user who has never used either would be *able* to use.
On that point we are in *absolute* disagreement. A user who did
not know what to do can read the options at the top of the ee
screen. That same user in vi is *lost* - there is no way they can
work out what to do. I would bet any number of hundreds of £s that
of a random selection of users who had used a text editor but
never seen vi or ee, the majority would be able to edit a file
and save it in ee, and virtually none would be able to do the
same in vi. If you think more would be able to do so in vi,
then that is a gulf in understanding between us which cannot
be bridged. We will have to go our separate ways.
--
David/absolute -- www.NetBSD.org: No hype required --