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Vi and Cream?
LINUX DESKTOP APPLICATIONS --- 09/26/2002

Eric Foster-Johnson

Long a diehard part of all UNIX and Linux systems, the vi text editor runs on just about every platform around. And, in this era of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), vi remains one of the most popular text editors used on any platform. 

On this topic

With most implementations, vi is fast, small, and supports a good number of features -- that's pretty good for an application originally designed in 1976. A common enhancement is called vim, short for vi improved. Vim (http://www.vim.org/ or http://vim.sourceforge.net) is fairly standard with Linux distributions, provides a huge set of extended features, and a much greater degree of configuration than the traditional vi. (In fact, if you are using vi and not running vim, you should switch.) vim maintains vi's mode of operation while adding new commands and features.

vim is not easy to learn, though. It requires a good bit of learning before you become productive with it. This problem doesn't come with vim. Instead, the problem learning vim comes from the underlying vi editor. Vi is simply hard to learn.

Many users start trying to use this small, fast, and full-featured editor, only to walk away due to the difficulty of getting up to speed. The two main issues are the modal operations and the keyboard commands.

vi was created in an era without graphical desktop environments, so all the commands come by typing keys on the keyboard. To separate the keys you type to input into a document from the keys that issue commands, vi uses modes. Typically, the Escape key exits the typing modes for inserting and changing text from the command mode. None of this makes for an easy user experience -- that's where cream comes in.

Enter Cream, Stage Right
Cream advertises that it takes the bitterness out of vim, hence the name. Cream (http://cream.sourceforge.net) is technically a configuration of vim that adds a set of friendly menus and windows, but its main goal is to hide the modes inside a normal GUI window. Thus, new users don't have to know that under the hood lies a modal text editor. Cream also adds a set of menus and Windows-and MacOS-like keyboard shortcuts.

To be fair, vim also supports the mouse, but cream goes further to aid new users. If you are new to Linux or vi and want a quicker way to learn vim, try cream. You can also check the excellent online vim documentation and a handy online book written by my Teach Yourself Linux co-author.

The Vi IMproved, available at http://www.newriders.com/books/opl/ebooks/0735710015.html, is a vim book by Steve Oualline. This book provides a lot of help for users new to vim or vi. You can find more on the print version of the book at http://www.newriders.com.

 

Eric Foster-Johnson has written 14 books on Linux, Unix, programming and open source tools. Eric can be reached at Eric.FosterJohnson@itworld.com or at http://www.pconline.com/~erc.



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