Re: Getting rid of vi color
Did you file a bug report? At the least, it would let the maintainer know
that someone doesn't like the default setup.
Also, you could easily install a different vi. nvi, for example, comes
with a rather basic default configuration. i believe elvis is intended to
be more featured than a 'standard' vi. You can even keep both, and if
necessary modify the symlinks in /etc/alternatives to select whichever you
want activated when you type "vi"
On Sat, 5 Jun 1999, Michael Talbot-Wilson wrote:
> For some reason, vi (elvis) has started to display colors and behave in a
> generally unpredictable way. I first (just now) noticed this in a .h file
> in which it is also disallowing things I want to do, e.g. it beeps when I
> try to delete (with 'x') the first character of a commented-out line,
> although the file is world-writable. It works sometimes, but not after I
> have done a search with '/' to get to the line I want to amend.
>
> It turns out that sane behavior can be obtained by deleting or renaming
> the directory /etc/elvis. That directory contains 10 files containing
> program code in a language unknown to me. Well, I see from the man
> page that they are EX commands.
>
> I would like to make a mild protest against the unnecessary complexity
> of this setup.
s/make a mild protest/file a bug report/ and you have a good course of
action. http://www.debian.org/Bugs/ for more info.
> I would like to be able to run the program without
> interference due to the maintainer's over-elaborate configuration. If
> I have to delete the Debian configuration to make the system work, that
> tends to defeat much of the rationale for using Debian. And makes the
> KISS approach of another distribution appear brilliant, inspired, and
> a great time-saver.
>
> The problem with the color is that dark blue against a black screen is
> not, for me, very readable. The file is mostly commented out and I
> guess the blue signifies that and some people may like it. But I
> should think the onus should be on those who want the elaboration
> to configure it, rather than for the rest of us to have to learn
> more than we wanted to know about vi in order to defeat it.
>
> It is a very good idea to provide full configuration files for
> a program if it is configurable; but the default configuration should
> produce the default configuration. I.e. /etc/elvis/ should contain
> files which explicitly require the default vi behavior. That way,
> they serve as documentation for those who might want to investigate
> customization.
>
> Regards,
> Mike
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