daniels@well.UUCP (Dan Smith, happy it's summer...) (10/16/86)
Hello. I've been following this whole "editor wars" segment for a while now, and have learned some new things from it. I couldn't write a whole new editor from scratch on the level of vi or emacs with what I know now, but I sure as hell have some ideas on what I want from one, and am well past the novice/beginner stage... Which brings me to my point.. I'd like to see an outpouring of ideas on what people would like to see in an editor. Maybe someone that reads this has the time to take on something like this (I think it may take a few "someones" at once...but that isn't important at the moment). I personally like vi, but I want to see it do windows, and I want to have the *option* of going into a full emacs emulation if I want to. (a few of you just slapped your foreheads and exclaimed "he's out of his mind! what a kludge!"...read on..) What I suggest is something done from scratch, that takes the best of what is available now, and wraps it into a very useable package that can be configured not only in the sense that you can bind any key to any function/macro...but where you can drop into and out of a "vi" or "brief" or "emacs" mode...possibly accomplished by having a set of editing primitves to work with in the form of a macro language. I hope this starts things off on a positive note...I'd rather not see it degenerate into a "nahh, that idea sucks" sort of syndrome, but more of an opportunity for brainstorming (and obviously, there are quite a few "brains" that read/post to this group!) dan smith ...ucbvax!well!unicom!daniel