this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2023
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why exit when you can do everything inside (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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as I'm going through the process of learning vim, I'm discovering newfound powers. one of them being to execute commands from vim itself.

below examples might better explain some of them:

  1. want to see what files are in current directory? enter command mode(by typing :) and follow it by a bang(!). then do ls like you'd do in a terminal and press enter. this is not limited to just ls. you can enter any command that you can enter in terminal. for example: :! uname --operating-system (which will output GNU/Linux :))

  2. so you want to quickly save just a certain part of your file into another file? just select everything you need by entering visual mode(v) and do :w filename(actual command you'll see would be '<,'>:w filename). verify it using 1.(i.e., :! cat filename.

  3. want to quickly paste another file into current one? do :r filename. it'll paste its contents below your cursor.

  4. or maybe you want to paste results of a command? do :r !ls *.png.

vim is my ~ sweet ~ now. make it yours too.

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

I love vim, but it wasn't always like this. When I was a Linux newbie one of the things that irritated me most is that tutorials aimed at beginners told readers to use vim, without explaining how to maneuver it. People, if you write tutorials aimed at beginners please use nano, even if it's not your preferred text editor.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago (4 children)

The first time I opened vim (it was probably just vi at the time) I couldn't exit it and had to shut down the computer by holding down the power button (!) to regain control of the machine. It took a while before I tried it again. Ultimately nano felt like it was for kids and emacs felt like an even worse option than vi so I memorized a few sequences, eg :q!, :wq, how to enter the insert mode and how to exit it and simple edit commands like dd and x and this gave me enough proficiency to get by.

Most all the terminal commands require prior study before they become easy to use. Its because Unix was created by engineers rather than by ui/ux design professionals.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

In Linux terminals, you probably could have pressed Alt+F2 or Ctrl+Alt+F2 (F2 could be other F-keys) and log in on a second terminal to recover (by reading the manual or killing it). Also, if bash already had job control back then Ctrl+Z would have suspended vi/vim to the background.

I'm writing this, so people try it and maybe remember it, if they get stuck in some program. Doesn't have to be vi. Maybe you just launched a long dd command and don't want to end it, but want to look something up. These hints may help then.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Help, how do I exit vi?

Ctrl+Alt+F2
sudo killall vim

Hmmm.... never thought about that, honestly, but it makes sense

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

It’s because Unix was created by engineers rather than by ui/ux design professionals.

This is somewhat disingenuous. Unix terminal is one of the most ergonomic tools out there. It is not “designed by engineers”, it is engineered for a purpose with user training in mind.

Ergonomics is engineering. UI/UX design is engineering. UX designer that doesn’t apply engineering method is called an artist.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

And yet having a sane --help string is enough to get someone going. No need to gatekeep.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

i agree with your request. vim used to scare me first.

as a side note: one of the reasons I believe as to why vscode grew in popularity was due to it lowering the barrier to just open up the editor and use it right away(with plugin system and a nice GUI). it is something vim by default doesn't do.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What’s wrong with nano? I love nano. As a general thing I love Linux programs that are terminal based but also have a decent UI. Neomutt comes to mind for email.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

There’s nothing wrong with nano, it’s a simple text editor while vim is much more versatile and aimed towards that are already accustomed to terminal software.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

This 👆👆👆.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago

I love these memes that turn into threads full of vim tips. You really can do anything within vim. You can even exit vim!: !killall vim

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago

It's like learning an instrument really. Just need to practice and eventually muscle memory will carry you

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago

You can keep your vim. I am happy with my nano.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

!emacs %

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Why would you have closed Emacs? You can do everything in Emacs

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

VimVM

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

bonus point: if you like inception, do :term, press i and start another (n)vim session :)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The challenge now is escaping the neovim terminal

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Ctrl+\ Ctrl+n gets you back to normal mode.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Via this video (thanks @[email protected]!) i recently learned a bunch of tricks about :term and am now tempted to start using it all the time.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I will not make vim my sweet as it is optimized for us keyboard. Most of the shortcuts are awful in my native (Finnish) layout. As much of a heretic I am, there is a place for mouse and windowing display managers.

What I do miss from the Redmont dystopia is Notepad++. Can do anything, can be explained over the phone.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

have you tried geany? I find it pretty sweet. that's what I told my project manager to use.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Dangol modern Linux users, haven't even heard of Ed. Every text editor is bloat, ed is life!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I use ed sometimes when too anxious.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (2 children)

If you don't want to use the :! bang command, you could also temporarily exit vim with Ctrl + z and reopen it with fg (like foreground).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

I love jobs(the bash one, not the apple guy)!

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

This is the duality of Linux. Linux is an easy OS that's extremely customizable and everyone should use it. But also you may have to choke out your PC to exit the text editor.

Did yall know that Notepad has tabs now? So does explorer!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago

Choke my computer to exit the text editor? I use nano. I only choke the computer when it asks seductively

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Holy shit! Tabs?!

That does it. I'm going back to Windows.

Tabs in a text editor. My mind is blown.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

:!VSCode.exe

[–] dukk 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Blasphemy…don’t bring Microsoft’s shitty proprietary editor and shitty proprietary OS near my holy text editor.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

:!emacs

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Ignoring that vscode cannot math the two giants: exe? Really?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I'm one of the people who use micro lol. I do want to give Vim a real shot.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

I'm personally a kakoune guy now. I used vim for over a decade, but kakoune just makes much more sense to me. And I thought vim made a lot of sense, too.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I was forced to learn the vim basics. Mainly because I really started with dd-wrt, which I used on my Linksys WRT54GL.

The image was too small to package anything fancy in it, like nano or something, but vi (or vim, I forget) was included. So when I needed to check something over ssh at the command prompt, vim was my only choice.

My skills in vim have not expanded beyond the basics. Getting into edit mode, exciting edit mode, saving, quitting.... Mostly.

I don't spend a lot of time editing files in the CLI, so I haven't needed any more than I already know. Now, when faced with a Linux cli, and needing to check/edit the contents of a file, my go to, is vim. It's pretty much on every system, and it works perfectly fine for what I need to do 99.99% of the time. I like vim, it's been there for me through thick and thin, and helped me out of some serious jams. I won't hate on nano (or any other cli file editor), they all have their pros and cons.

Use what you like.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Getting into ~~edit~~ Insert mode

I'll admit, I took the rage bait.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

And I don't even want to start vim.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Step-by-step guide to getting started with Vim

  1. Uninstall Vim

  2. Install Neovim

  3. Install Emacs

  4. Install Doom Emacs

  5. Enable vterm inside Doom Emacs

  6. Disable Evil mode

  7. Run Neovim inside Emacs using vterm

  8. ???

  9. Profit

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