From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Jun 25 07:30:40 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0883D1065691 for ; Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:30:40 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from perryh@pluto.rain.com) Received: from agora.rdrop.com (unknown [IPv6:2607:f678:1010::34]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D5A9E8FC17 for ; Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:30:39 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from perryh@pluto.rain.com) Received: from agora.rdrop.com (66@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by agora.rdrop.com (8.13.1/8.12.7) with ESMTP id n5P7UcfA005217 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT); Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:30:38 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from perryh@pluto.rain.com) Received: (from uucp@localhost) by agora.rdrop.com (8.13.1/8.12.9/Submit) with UUCP id n5P7Uc55005216; Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:30:38 -0700 (PDT) Received: from fbsd61 by pluto.rain.com (4.1/SMI-4.1-pluto-M2060407) id AA03847; Thu, 25 Jun 09 00:26:05 PDT Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:24:23 -0700 From: perryh@pluto.rain.com To: invalid.pointer@gmail.com, green_tiger@comcast.net Message-Id: <4a432627.nNXzKFb0uYX/7NBi%perryh@pluto.rain.com> References: <4A430505.2020909@gmail.com> <4A430CDF.2010205@comcast.net> In-Reply-To: <4A430CDF.2010205@comcast.net> User-Agent: nail 11.25 7/29/05 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: bf1783@googlemail.com, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: The question of moving vi to /bin X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:30:40 -0000 > ed is an interactive program, and it has always been considered as > such, at least since BSD 4.2. Way back then there were three main > editors, ex, vi, and ed. ed goes back at least as far as the Bell Labs 6th Edition (PDP-11), where it was the only editor in the distribution. ex and vi (and termcap, without which there would be no vi) were written later, at UC Berkeley. > If you had a nice video terminal then you used vi. But if you > were stuck using a hard copy terminal like a Decwriter, then you > used ex. And ed was the simplified (dumbed down) editor for > newbies. More like, ed was the "original" Unix editor; ex and vi presumably were inspired, at least in part, by a desire to improve on ed's limitations. I doubt I'm the only one who muttered about the bother of horsing around with ed, back when there was nothing else.