creat 1172

Bah. Contrary to common misconception, vi has only added modes quite recently. Insertion was an escape terminated command. However, with the vim extensions (and possibly in other variants), it is now possible to manuever around the screen with arrow keys and delete or modify other text while inserting. This might actually be a mode, but, now that I think about it, the exact same keys work in the exact same manner as when not executing an insert command. So I suppose it's not a mode; it's just the continued ability to do something else while in the midst of a command . . .

Yep, Control Key In Exile, instead of Where God Meant It To Be.

Shortly thereafter, a small white piece of plastic mysteriously appeared on my desk. Experimentation showed that it was apparently the physical toggle that Apple used in its capslock key. I wonder how it got there? *I* wouldn't modify university equipment by opening up a switch box inside a keyboard :)

Anyway, this fortuitous event allowed me to remap the key under NetBSD, so that the key behaved properly. The event also left me using vi for almost everything except formatting-indenting my code.

Admittedly, had I encountered EMACS first, I might have become a heretic and preferred it. vi, however, had too many years in my fingertips by then.

Heck, it took me until a few years ago to stop using wordstar commands without thinking about it--I had to add them to Microsoft Word to avoid strange things appearing in my court pleadings . . .

hawk, shuddering at the idea of EMACS trying to run on the PDP-11's on which he learned vi

-- Richard E. Hawkins, buttt. Prof. of Economics " ASCII ribbon campaign Find commentary on law, economics, and X and postings. other issues of the day at dochawk.org!