They called us the Keyboard Warriors, frontline soldiers in the Editor Wars. My battle was vi versus Emacs.
I was fresh out of college in the late '70s when I first encountered vi. Its raw, no-nonsense approach, its mode-based system, its minimalistic elegance – it all struck a chord. I mastered vi's cryptic commands and reveled in the simplicity of its design.
Then came the Emacs enthusiasts, touting their superior tool. It was an all-powerful text editor, they argued, an extensible, customizable environment that ran on Lisp, that could do everything short of making your coffee.
I stood my ground, defending the elegance of vi, the beauty of its rawness. But I watched, helpless, as vi compatriots defected, seduced by Emacs' siren call. Even I, in a moment of weakness, spent a week in the Emacs world. It was attractive, even alluring, with its all-in-one approach. But my heart remained loyal to vi.
Through the years, the skirmishes grew into full-blown flamewars. Heated debates, passionate defenses, outright insults – it was a war of attrition and ideology. We became less of programmers and more of ideologues, our identities intertwined with our tools of choice.
I've been through countless battles, witnessed friendships torn apart, alliances broken. The scars of the Editor Wars never fully healed. The thought of enduring another flamewar exhausts me. I long for peace, for unity, for a world where a text editor is just a tool, not a battleground.
Looking back, I realize it was never about vi or Emacs. It was about us, programmers, growing, learning, adapting. We argued, we fought, but we also shared, learned, and evolved. We took the best of both worlds, creating new tools, new editors, breaking the binary constraints.
I've lived through the Editor Wars, survived the flamewars, and emerged, not victorious, but wiser. Now, I carry the weight of those battles, the grizzled veteran, weary of wars, yearning for peace. I stare at my screen, fingers poised over the keyboard, ready to code, but hoping, praying, that I won't have to fight again.