From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu Subject: Re: [9fans] text editor From: nigel@9fs.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="upas-oalxxqvyysawjhlyhoemlelbjx" Message-Id: <20020426095103.290DC1999B@mail.cse.psu.edu> Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 10:49:22 +0100 Topicbox-Message-UUID: 7ae943e4-eaca-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --upas-oalxxqvyysawjhlyhoemlelbjx Content-Disposition: inline Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sorry, Plan 9 does not use cursor keys in editing, not even for left/right. This is a design decision. Plan 9 use the mouse as it's main form of interaction. The keyboard, you might say, is an necessary evil for the entry of characters, but not much else. Everything in acme is done using the mouse apart for text entry (and acme does everything). To recap the logic (it has been repeated many times in the archives), once you switch to mouse centric operation, you become faster, not slower. It may be counterintuitive, but I believe it has been shown by research, not that I can quote anything. You have to move your hands to get to the cursor keys, so it's a whole bunch better if your default position is holding the mouse as it does lots of things besides positioning the cursor. We've all been keyboard centric at one time in our lives, and I think I speak for the vast majority of the list when I say that we don't miss cursor keys. At all. In fact, quite a few people buy keyboards without cursor keys, function keys, windows keys, number pads and reclaim a good square foot of their desk. So, stick with it, persevere, and you'll hopefully feel the benefit. Nigel --upas-oalxxqvyysawjhlyhoemlelbjx Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Received: from 9fs.org ([192.168.100.103]) by 9fs.org; Fri Apr 26 10:08:11 BST 2002 Received: from mail.cse.psu.edu ([130.203.4.6]) by 9fs.org; Fri Apr 26 10:08:10 BST 2002 Received: from psuvax1.cse.psu.edu (psuvax1.cse.psu.edu [130.203.30.6]) by mail.cse.psu.edu (CSE Mail Server) with ESMTP id 418DE199F2; Fri, 26 Apr 2002 05:08:17 -0400 (EDT) Delivered-To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu Received: from mercury.bath.ac.uk (mercury.bath.ac.uk [138.38.32.81]) by mail.cse.psu.edu (CSE Mail Server) with ESMTP id BDDDC1999B for <9fans@cse.psu.edu>; Fri, 26 Apr 2002 05:07:20 -0400 (EDT) Received: from news by mercury.bath.ac.uk with local (Exim 3.12 #1) id 1711O0-0005Zy-00 for 9fans@cse.psu.edu; Fri, 26 Apr 2002 09:47:24 +0100 Received: from GATEWAY by bath.ac.uk with netnews for 9fans@cse.psu.edu (9fans@cse.psu.edu) To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu From: Andrew Stitt Message-ID: Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Subject: [9fans] text editor Sender: 9fans-admin@cse.psu.edu Errors-To: 9fans-admin@cse.psu.edu X-BeenThere: 9fans@cse.psu.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.9 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu List-Id: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans.cse.psu.edu> List-Archive: Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 08:47:09 GMT hey, Im just getting into plan 9, and Im in desperate need of a text editor that can deal with a keyboard intensive user, I dont like having to reach over and touch my mouse everytime i want to move the cursor, it seems as if any keyboard arrow keys just effect the overall window, not the cursor address. Ive tried to read up on acme and sam and I dont see anything that really addresses this. Are there keyboard commands to move the cursor around or am i stuck having to fondle my mouse everytime i want to move my cursor back two characters? thanks Andrew/A Frayed Knot --upas-oalxxqvyysawjhlyhoemlelbjx--