[plug] [why not staroffice]

[tlee]

Thanks for explaining Colin - do you think most people are using C with the gc
compiler and using emacs or vi to as the interface, unlike dos where one buys Turbo C
all in one editor compiler? Are procedural programs still being writen or is everybody
using C++ OOP these days on linux.? Any feedback very appreciated.

Colin Muller wrote:

> tlee wrote:
> > I am a newbie and have been suffering with Slackware, but not using Xfree I also
> > found joe to be the easiest editor. I thought that all of you would be using
> > Staroffice editor which I assumed would be similar to ms office word, and have a
> > facility for typing in non document mode? Why all the talk about an editor?
>
> Editors like vi(m) and emacs have facilities which speed up a
> programmer/sysadmin's work and which a word processor like Staroffice's
> tend not to include. Just a few of examples: search and replace based on
> regular expressions, copying and pasting to and from named buffers, and
> the capacity to run the scripts (and compile and run the programs) which
> you are editing from within the editor itself.
>
> Also, these editors tend to start up in a split-second, are usable on
> remote machines even over very slow links, and can be made to do
> everything they do with a few keystrokes, without requiring you ever to
> reach for your mouse. So programmers and sysadmins tend to use the
> editors rather than the word processors for config file, script and
> program editing.
>
> The efficiencies come at the price of a steep learning curve for
> newcomers, so using these editors can be daunting at first. Still, once
> you've used them for a while, you'll come to realise that there are all
> sorts of ways in which, despite initial appearances, your word processor
> is rather primitive in comparison.
>
> Colin