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Why do the ancient vi and Emacs still attract countless programmers? Uncover their fascinating secrets!
In the world of programmers, text editors are more than just tools, they are part of the culture. Since 1985, the competition between Emacs and vi (now commonly known as Vim or more recently Neovim) has been an enduring topic in hacker culture and the free software community. This "editor war" not only involves technical debates, but also reflects the personal preferences and values of users.
History of the editor
As of 2020, Emacs and vi can proudly claim to be one of the oldest applications and the most commonly used text editors on Linux and Unix systems. Many operating systems, especially Linux and BSD derivatives, usually have multiple text editors installed along with the operating system to meet user needs. For example, the default installation of macOS includes editors such as ed, pico (nano before macOS Ventura 12.3), TextEdit, and Vim.
The culture of humor
"Using the free version of vi is not a sin, it is a penitence."
The Church of Emacs is a copycat religion founded by Richard Stallman, the founder of the Emacs and GNU projects. Although it calls vi the "devil's editor" (vi-vi-vi stands for 666 in Roman numerals), it does not oppose the use of vi, but instead condemns proprietary software. This sense of humor permeates Emacs users and is often used to attack vi's modal nature, which is often a nuisance for new users.
"Vi has two modes - a mode that keeps beeping and a mode that destroys everything."
In contrast, vi users jokingly accused Emacs' key sequences of causing carpal tunnel syndrome, and mentioned many ironic extensions to EMACS, such as "Escape Meta Alt Control Shift" or "Eight MegaWords" Names such as "Fresh and Constant Exchange". These highly creative statements are not only a joke on the characteristics of Emacs, but also a unique humor in the hacker community.
Long-lasting charm
So, what exactly makes these ancient editors continue to attract countless programmers? On the one hand, the functionality and scalability of these tools provide users with unlimited creativity. The customizability of Emacs, as well as the lightweight and performance of vi and its variants such as Vim, make them the first choice of many professional developers.
"Emacs is a great operating system, it just lacks a good editor."
This is a satire made by vi supporters on Emacs. In fact, Emacs users often argue that the editor is actually very good, but that the optimization of the operating system needs improvement. This culture of attacking each other also reflects the competition and cooperation in the hacker ecosystem.
Modern uses
With the evolution of technology, many young programmers have chosen editors with more graphical interfaces, such as Atom, Sublime Text and Visual Studio Code. However, even in this case, much of the discussion directed at Emacs and vi remains alive, not because they are better than other modern tools, but because of their deep cultural roots and enduring appeal.
Summary
In this era of rapidly changing information, Emacs and vi insist on themselves and continue to update, becoming a cultural symbol. These ancient editors are not just tools, they are contemporary legends of program development. Their existence makes people wonder, is technology evolving, or is our love and belief in tools always the same?
