If you wanna save changes: :wq
If not: :q!
Else: :SpanishInquisition
Why do so many people prefer :wq over :x?
:xwas a gamechanger. And it doesn’t update the file’s modify date if you made no changes.Sometimes I just sit back and think about all that saved time and effort so much that I have actually lost time by switching from
:wq.Because :wq to me means “Issue command write, followed by command quit.” “Issue command x” to me means nothing in the context of vim, and ctrl + x on most systems is reserved for cutting, so it just “feels” wrong.
Serious question. Why? No, for real, why? Why are these hard to understand editors still the default on most distros and flavors? Why haven’t they reinvented themselves with easier to understand shortcuts?
I get the feeling my comment will attract heat, but I’m a web dev, studied comp Sci for years, have worked for nearly a decade and have spent over half my 30 year old life using computers of all sorts. I’m by no means a genius and I by no means know enough about this or most tech subjects, but I literally only knew how to close vim with and without saving changes in a recent vim encounter, purely due to a meme I saw in this community a few days prior, and I had already forgotten the commands by the time I saw this post. Nothing about vim and alternatives feels intuitive or easy to use, and you may say it’s a matter of sitting down and learning, which you can argue that, but you can’t argue this isn’t a bit of a gatekeeper for people trying to dip their toes into anything that could eventually rely on opening vim to do something.
I won’t try to deny its place in computer history, or its use for many, or even that it is preferred by some, but when every other software with keyboard shortcuts agrees on certain easy to remember standards, I don’t quite understand how software that goes against all of that hasn’t been replaced or hasn’t reinvented itself in newer versions.
Then again, I have no idea what the difference between vi, vim, emacs, and nano are, so roast away!
Some people like vim the way it is. That’s why they haven’t re-invented it. If you want to use a more intuitive text editor, there are plenty available (such as nano or micro).They don’t need to turn vim into a clone of something that already exists.
As for why it’s still the default… It’s the same reason why everybody uses QWERTY keyboards when Dvorak is clearly superior. People already know how to type with QWERTY and they don’t want to take the time to re-learn with a new layout, change their workflows, etc.
It isn’t universal, though. Garuda Linux defaults to micro. The web dev boot camp I was in didn’t bring vim up at all! We only used nano! I think that was a disservice to the students, but the instructors must’ve thought that it would be too confusing.
