vi/ex - the original!

[machinebacon]

No more bloat. Get the real thing. This is as close as it gets to the original code: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ex-vi/f ... t/download

simply unpack, change to dir,

edit the Makefile, and find the string 'ucb' and replace it with 'bin', also set the terminal library:

Code: Select all

# A BSD-like install program. GNU install will fit well here, too.

-- INSTALL = /usr/ucb/install 
++ INSTALL = /usr/bin/install

-- #TERMLIB = ncurses
++ TERMLIB = ncurses

-- TERMLIB        = termlib
++ #TERMLIB        = termlib

make, sudo make install. This creates:

/usr/local/bin/edit
/usr/local/bin/vedit
/usr/local/bin/vi
/usr/local/bin/view

Enjoy!

[RandomCharacter]

What about just installing package nvi? That is what I used to do.

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nvi - 4.4BSD re-implementation of vi

Tim

[machinebacon]

Because it is not the same thing. Quote:

This implementation is derived from ex/vi 3.7 of 6/7/85 and the BSD
termcap library, originally from the 2.11BSD distribution. All of them
were changed to compile and run on newer POSIX compatible Unix systems.

nvi is the replacement of traditional ex/vi, due to licensing, in BSD4.4
The traditional ex/vi got a BSD license in 2002, and this one is as far as possible the original code.

E.g. if you enter an unknown command, nvi will tell you "xxx isn't a vi command", and this was not there in the original. Have a try.

[RandomCharacter]

Thanks. I have reverted to just using vim, now.

[machinebacon]

BLOAT! ;)

[rust collector]

just to confuse things some more, how does busybox vi compare to regular vi, or vim...or ????

[machinebacon]

busybox vi is "just" a clone/rewrite, and it lacks eg. unicode support (which ex/vi has in this version), and *probably* it does not support as many terminals (/lib/terminfo/) - but I have no evidence for this, just guessing logically.

vim.tiny is a slim version of vim but without features like syntax highlighting, undo/redo (the vim-runtime package is not installed there). Both vim and vim.tiny can emulate vi/ex.

[rust collector]

It makes sense that it is simpler, just wondering.

[machinebacon]

Apart from busybox vi, the lightest editor in Debianland is e3 - which ironically emulates a handful of editors, like wordstar, nedit, pico, vi and emacs. Worth to take a look ;)