Once again, just so everyone understands what happened, I am NOT the person who insisted on Vim. In fact, I argued against such insistence. SteveT Evan Leibovitch said on Mon, 25 May 2026 00:15:32 -0400
I personally would not demand anyone new to Linux use a tool simply because I like it, no matter how good I think it is. It's staring off that person's entire entry journey with a handicap.
Out of the box Mint comes with a perfectly workable editor, Xed. Maybe the features of Vim -- and the learning curve that accompanies it -- will be useful and maybe even preferable in the future. But someone starting from scratch is going to already have to learn and adapt so many new methods and workflows; being further broadened with an optional extra thing to learn at the start strikes me as an awful way to come in.
Almost 20 years ago I (and many still here) were involved with a national network of Canadian Linux Installfests, harkening back to a time when handholding was mandatory because of hardware/driver quirks, disk management and other barriers to easy entry. Going though those experiences one becomes quickly attuned to a new entrant's point of view, especially the frustration of things not working on Linux when they otherwise (ie on Windows) had no problems. It's essential to understand the need to minimize barriers to entry, letting newcomers get as far as they can with the standard install (whatever the distro) before loading more stuff to address needed features and capabilities. Let them have their own journey, don't force them to take (even a portion of) yours.
As for what books to include, how about ... none? This is 2026. There are so many free resources available; man pages, online text documentation, YouTube tutorials and now AI chatbots, Rather than gatekeep or make demands that they use what you use, trust the newcomer to know what they want without telling them what it is. Be a support, not a lead.
Tell the person who wants to insist on a specific editor that they're about to antagonize a friend who might come to regret trying Linux.
- Evan
On Sat, May 23, 2026 at 2:33 AM Steve Litt via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Ron via Talk said on Fri, 22 May 2026 02:02:12 -0700
Steve Litt via Talk wrote on 2026-05-20 22:21:
attract people who probably won't use Linux anyway, and if they tried, are unwilling to edit a file or use Google.
This thread reminds me of a recent one on another list (which Steve participated in): a guy wanted to buy a laptop, install Mint, and give it to someone with zero Unix experience.
His question to the list was, what books should he include:
* Sed & AWK? * Vi & Vim? * Emacs? * Korn shell scripting? * ...
Plus:
I'm afraid I am going to insist that she learn Vim.
Just so we're all on the same page, somebody other than me (initials JD) said "I'm afraid I am going to insist that she learn Vim." Given Ron's next paragraph, which I include in the quoted text at the end of my email, makes it ambiguous to me whether Ron realizes this or not.
I was the one who suggested postponing learning and use of Vim until the new user was more experienced with Linux, and the "I'm afraid I am going to insist" was a reply to my suggestion.
So, turns out the recipient was not nerdy in the slightest. Saw a university semester's reading list, an insistence on learning some inscrutable text editor, and declined the new Linux laptop entirely.
SteveT
Steve Litt
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-- Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada @evanleibovitch / @el56