• tal
      13•2 years ago

      I’m on the emacs side of things, but knowing at least the bare minimum of vim is handy, because I have run into into systems (usually very small systems like routers or something) where some vi variant is available and nothing else is. Though as systems get bigger, it has become more the norm to have at least nano also available.

      I’d know at least this:

      • i to enter insert mode. Then you can edit as in a non-modal editor.

      • Esc to exit insert mode and go back to normal mode.

      • h, j, k, l move left, down, up, and right. The fingers under your right hand at rest position on a QWERTY keyboard.

      • / to start a regex search

      • % and then SRC/REPLACEMENT to do a regex replacement.

      • :q to exit without saving changes.

      • :wq to save and exit.

      That’s enough to perform a couple of small edits or something if need be.

    • @[email protected]
      9•2 years ago

      It literally gives you instructions on how to exit if it thinks that’s what you’re trying to do…

      • @[email protected]
        4•2 years ago

        But even then it’s not really obvious the “:” is part of the command which makes things even more confusing.

      • lemminur
        2•2 years ago

        Say what? The command is :q! or use ZQ. I don’t even use vim extensively, but comes in handy.

        • @[email protected]
          11•2 years ago

          Oh neat, a real whoosh in the wild, on Lemmy!

          On a more serious note, vim is one of the most initially unintuitive commonly used pieces of software I’ve encountered.

          Sure, if you put in a little time and learn it, it’s not rocket science. But that seems like a weird standard for an essential tool used for one of the most common computing tasks of today.

          In response to your initial question, obviously it’s a meme. But like most good memes, it’s born out of a common* human experience. What do you think is the most common reaction when someone is thrown into vim for the first time? My guess is “what’s this?” or something similar, followed very soon by “how do I exit this?”. And the answer is, by modern computer users’ standards, quite arcane.

          IF you are somewhat familiar with the Linux terminal, you’ll try CTRL+C and IF you’re paying close attention you will notice that vim is giving you a hint. But if it’s your first time interacting with vim, chances are at least one of those conditions is not met. So now you’re stuck. And after an optional small moment of panic/disorientation, you google “how to exit vim” (provided you were at least lucky enough to notice/remember what program you’re in) => a meme is born.

          Exiting vim is almost like a right of passage for fresh Linux enjoyers. It’s not a hard task but it can seem daunting at first encounter, which is humorous given that quitting a program is normally such an easy thing to do.

          One more note, there is a group of people who will encounter vim quite unexpectedly and unintentionally: Windows users performing their first commit using git bash. They won’t even know they’re in vim, they’re dropped directly into edit mode and there’s no instructions for confirming the commit message, much less how to exit/cancel the operation.

          • @[email protected]B
            5•2 years ago

            is one of the most initially unintuitive commonly used pieces of software

            export EDITOR=nano # fixed.

            • @[email protected]
              4•2 years ago

              Sure but the people who know that probably know how to exit vi(m). Thus nano (or any other less arcane editor) should be the default.

          • @[email protected]
            1•2 years ago

            Well I have never been in a position where I couldn’t find a way around a problem. In case of vim (or any other software) I studied it while using it. I’m new to the memes of Linux.

            • MrPear
              3•2 years ago

              Have you ever tried out Micro? I use Neovim myself, but I’ve played around with Micro. It basiclly takes some good things from Nano, vim and keybindings from modern GUI texteditors, and mixes those together. It’s very good for an easy-to-use text editor

    • @[email protected]
      4•2 years ago

      casual nano fan here. can’t stand vim, if my text editor has its own command line then there’s a problem lol

      at least we can all come together and say that emacs is the worst

  • Synapse
    14•2 years ago

    The dad is no longer thinking about his daughter by the time he answers that guy.

  • @[email protected]
    22•2 years ago

    Memes like this always make we wonder the original version of it. I am dying to know the original context of why the father doesn’t want the boyfriend to pull out

    • CarrotsHaveEars
      9•2 years ago

      The father didn’t believe the boy’s claim and dared him to demonstrate exiting Vim without pulling out the power cable that night.

      • @[email protected]
        10•2 years ago

        That’s basically the equivalent of pulling the plug. Works, but it’s not as gentle.

        R-E-I-S-U-B will:

        Ask programs to prepare for shutdown gracefully.

        Then, force programs to shutdown.

        Then, sync all changes to the disk gracefully.

        Then, unmount the file system.

        And finally reboot.

        Also you can replace “b” with “o” to shutdown.