Re: Will the real vi please stand up?

[tgakem@chem.tue.nl]

> 
>      It is generally agreed that any Unix user should be able to use
> vi, regardless of which editor he prefers to use regularly.
> 
>      Apparently vi doesn't exist in Debian - vim, nvi, and elvis
> (maybe others) all like to have a symlink named vi pointing to them.
> A year ago when I was running Slackware, I thought I learned enough
> about vi to use it, but not well.  Then I found I was learning elvis,
> not vi.  When I first installed Debian I tried using 'vi' (I don't
> remember which of the almost clones it really was) and found that
> some of the commands I was familiar with caused the famous "unexpected
> results", so I gave up.
> 
>      Which of the vi semi-clones on Debian is most like the original
> vi and most likely to work on a broad range of unices?

I think you want nvi.  Afaik elvis and vim intend to add features.  In
the nvi manual page, you can see

QUOTE
Nex/nvi are intended as bug-for-bug compatible replacements for the
original Fourth Berkeley Software Distribution (4BSD) ex and vi
programs.  For the rest of this manual page, nex/nvi is used only when
it's necessary to distinguish it from the historic implementations of
ex/vi.
UNQUOTE

Very few differences are found in the manual page.  Further on it also
comments under `STANDARDS':

QUOTE
Nex/nvi is close to IEEE Std1003.2 (``POSIX'').  That document differs
from historical ex/vi practice in several places; there are changes to
be made on both sides.
UNQUOTE

Altogether it looks as though nvi at least attempts to be a `true' vi as
much as possible.

Eric Meijer

 E.L. Meijer (tgakem@chem.tue.nl)          | tel. office +31 40 2472189
 Eindhoven Univ. of Technology             | tel. lab.   +31 40 2475032
 Lab. for Catalysis and Inorg. Chem. (TAK) | tel. fax    +31 40 2455054


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