Vim 6.4 Released

file cabinet writes to tell us that for the first time in more than a year Vim has released a new version. Version 6.4 stable was released yesterday and while there are no new features added they are touting dozens of bug fixes.

Comments

Why are we hiding from the police, daddy?

[(1 -sqrt(5))*(2**-1)]

"Because we use vi , son; they use emacs."

In good sadness, though, I'm looking forward to the spell-checking in Vim 7.

Re:Why are we hiding from the police, daddy?

[falzer]

VIM is *not* user friendly, and until it is VIM will stay with <= 1% marketshare.

Take editing text. Vim zealots are now saying "oh editing text is so easy, just use the hjkl keys to move around and use ":%s/apple/apricot/gi" to do a search and replace. Yes, because typing in "5kck}" is so much more intuitive than simply moving the cursor, selecting two lines of text with the mouse, then hitting the } key.

VIM zealots are far too forgiving when judging the difficultly of VIM interface issues and far too harsh when judging the difficulty of Notepad issues. Example comments:

User: "How do I fucking edit this goddamn text file!? Why does Linux only come with vi installed?"
Zealot: "Oh that's easy! Just go vim <the file you want to edit>. No no, wait, don't type anything yet. It won't work the sa-- ok hit escape, ok, hit u a few times, ok you're back to where you started. Now vi works a little differently than most text editors: there is command mode and edit mode. Vim starts in command mode where you issue commands (such as hjkl) to move the cursor around, d followed by a movement command to delete lines of text, or i (for example) to insert text. Pretty much almost every letter of the alphabet (upper and lower case) is a command. When you go into a text editing mode by issuing the appropriate command, you type your text like normal then hit escape to back out. You type :q to quit, or ZZ / :wq to save and quit. Sometimes you need to put in a ! after a : command to force it. Quite elegant, don't you think?"

User: "How do I edit text files using notepad?"
Zealot: "Oh God, you have to use the graphical luser interface to open a text file. Then use the arrow keys (or optionally mouse) to position the cursor where you want to type. Now you've gotta actually enter in the text using the keyboard! Careful though, it might break, it just blithely assumes that what you're typing is text and not commands!"

So, I guess the point I'm trying to make is that what seems easy and natural to VIM geeks is definitely not what regular people consider easy and natural. Hence, the preference towards notepad.

Bug fixes

[patrickclay]

I hope they fixed the bug that made you type all those weird key combinations to write to a file and save.

Need release faster

[2Bits]

Look, as good as vim could be, at this rate, you are not going to catch up with emacs, which is already at version 21.x or something. Which just proved that emacs is much better. If you don't believe, here is some proofs:

1- Emacs has a much higher version number, which proves to be a more mature software, which proves to be better (more mature is better)

2- Even an icon such as RMS whom has been proved to be more intelligent than the average USians, uses Emacs. This shows that smart people always make the right choice, and in reverse, proves that Emacs is better than Vim.

3- Everyone in Cryptonomicon, which is the bibile of all geeks, uses Emacs. We even have a module for encryption. It would take a long time for Vim to catch up to that kind of functionalities.

4- Only in Emacs can you do Ctrl-A to move the beginning of a line. In one shot. How could you do that in
Vim? You have to Esc, then press 0, which is lame. Which just shows how advanced Emacs is in terms of maturity and functionality.

5- As the theorem goes, computer science is a science for minimizing keystrokes. Emacs, in contrast to Vim, can prove this theorem right. Emacs users press less keys than Vim users.

6- Humans have 10 fingers (some may have more, but I don't know how to grow them), and Emacs allows you to use all your fingers at one. Which shows you that Emacs has a better human user interface. In contrast, Vim users can only type one key at a time, which has no concept of fingers. That is like an interface for dogs, which can only press one key at a time with their paws.

7- Emacs allows users to stretch their fingers more, and finger exercise has been proved, again and again, scientifically, to help increase human intelligence. The more you use Emacs, the more you become intelligent. Unlike Vim users, who become dumber and dumber, and end up with paws.

8- Everyone knows that geeks do no exercise. But we Emacs users have our daily dose of finger exercise. As a result, Emacs users have better shape. Take a look at the comparison: RMS (Emacs user) vs ESR (Vi user). RMS definitely looks better, with a nicer beard too. ESR can only have a lousy Asterix moustache. And look at what these two persons said in public, which just proved points 2, 6, and 7.

9- Look at this deductive proof I'm giving right now. Only an Emacs user can attain this level of intellect.

10- As a result of the last 9 points, this proves that Emacs is better. And from an evolutionary point of view, Emacs is like modern humans, and Vim like chimpanzee.

* putting on flame suite *

Re:Need release faster

[forkazoo]

You omit one important point from your otherwise well reasoned logic...

vi users are mammals, and they flip out and kill people *all the time.* Some guy dropped a spoon and a vi user edited a whole source tree. That's what I call a Real Ultimate Editor!

Wait, maybe I'm thinking of something else. Something to do with pirates...

Vim source code

[chrysalis]

int main(void)
{
for(;;) {
get_keystroke();
bell();
flash_screen();
}
return 0; /* NOTREACHED */
}