> Hi Rainyday,
>
> the same here... ! :)
>
> But my question more aimed more in the direction of text perception:
> Does vim influences the way you recognizes text? Or the other way
> round: Does you choose vim as your editor, because you may recognize
> text in a different way as for example Microsoft Word users do?
Vim has changed the way that I think of editing. Before I discovered
text-objects (which, as I often say, is Vim's killer-feature), my
conception of text editing was "type-type-type, highlight with mouse,
cut&paste, type-type-type". Now I can make huge changes in three or
four keystrokes that leave shoulder-surfers scratching their heads. I
don't see the file as a big string with newlines sprinkled throughout:
it's paragraphs, it's blocks, it's parenthetical expressions and
bracketed expressions. And I can easily grab them and change them
however I wish. Without needing three hands.
I've seen people who have used Vim for years and have a very
rudimentary idea of the power they have at their fingertips. I often
wonder why they stick with Vim when they're basically using it as a
kind of cross-platform notepad.exe (I really think it's the . command
that keeps them hooked).
When I show them how to use text-objects and macros and mappings and
autocommands and other magical stuff that's 2nd nature to me by now,
they are always blown away. I don't know how much effort they put
into adding those features to their usage-set; I've had to introduce
the same coworker to text-objects a couple of times.
So, I'd say you've got 2 types of people:
1. Those who had a rough enough time learning the tool in the
first place and don't want to do it again.
2. Those who pay the price up-front to learn a technique, and reap
the rewards of efficiency later.
I was going to try to split the world up into "people who think in
text-objects and those who don't", but that left Emacs folks in the
same category as notepad.exe and Notepad++ users. They invest heavily
into their tool, and are able to do lots of crazy-efficient things
with it. No, it's a differentiation between tweakers and the people
who leave the clear plastic film on the display well after unpacking
their gadget. The difference between folks who like vanilla ice cream
and defaults and those who milk their own cows and grow their own
vanilla beans. People who think Windows is an operating system vs.
people who rightfully see it as an overgrown game console for really
boring games revolving around office work and meetings.
So, in short, I think that Vim appeals to people who are willing to
take the pains to learn how to use it. Whether that means learning as
little as hjkl and hitting <Esc> a lot, or learning scripting and
mapping and advanced motions and operators, these are people who want
to put the computer to work for them instead of laboring under the
limits the computer imposes on them.
There, that makes us sound like a pretty impressive bunch, and I
brought the Emacs users up to our level, too. That can't possibly be
controversial!
--
Erik Falor
Registered Linux User #445632 http://counter.li.org
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