The more I like my VAX, the more I hate Compaq...

From: John Wilson <wilson_at_dbit.dbit.com>
Date: Wed Jun 7 15:44:27 2000

On Wed, Jun 07, 2000 at 09:54:06AM -0600, Roger Ivie wrote:
>Oh no! Someone's taken over www.teco.com and it's not about the editor
>anymore!

Can't get it to come up, is it the folks that make the clips and brackets
for tying lumber together? I got a kick out of sticking TECO clips all over
the roof when I rebuilt my garage... "TE CO" also seems to be a common
failure mode for TEXACO gas station signs.

>I don't know what line editor they're shipping with VMS these days (my
>spine knows EDT, so I don't usually stray),

EDT *is* a line editor, until you (or your init file) type CHANGE that is.
I count four different editors hiding inside EDT:

1. Original non-keypad change mode (from EDT V1), annoying modal thing
   like "vi" but of course totally different (SET CHANGE NOKEYPAD gets you
   this IIRC).
2. Line mode, when you haven't typed CHANGE yet.
3. CHANGE mode on a VT100 etc. (what we're all used to)
4. CHANGE mode on a hardcopy terminal. Bizarre!

Are there more?

>but the best thing to do
>with SOS (other than not use it) is pretend it's the old Micro$oft BASIC
>line editor. At least, that's how _I_ learned to use it, having come from
>the TRS-80 Model I and found myself dropped on a VAX.

Boy it's been a while, I remember thinking SOS was very much like the TRS-80
Model II EDTASM. Close enough!

I feel sure I've asked this before and probably been answered but, if SOS
is Son Of Stopgap, just how bad was the original Stopgap Editor? :-)

John Wilson
D Bit
Received on Wed Jun 07 2000 - 15:44:27 BST