[Novalug] vi vs. emacs was Re: OT List?

Theodore Ruegsegger gruntly@gmail.com
Fri Sep 25 10:35:18 EDT 2009


Kevin Cole wrote:
> If you think emacs is an OS in search of an editor, you haven't met
> TECO. ;-) A quote from "Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal"
>
> http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html
>
> | ...No, the Real Programmer wants a "you
> | asked for it, you got it" text editor-- complicated, cryptic, powerful,
> | unforgiving, dangerous. TECO, to be precise.

to which James III added:

> What is actually Cool about TECO is that it is really a Virtual Machine,
> where the Source Code is exactly the same as the Binary Object Code.
>... Back in those days, TECO and APL were about the Most Fun You Could Have
> with computers!

What few brain cells I have left remember using TECO at school,
sometime in the 1970's, but clearly I didn't get into it enough to
appreciate it. But no worries, I still can!

Text Editor and COrector
http://almy.us/teco.html

The page has some delightful FAQ's ("Do I need a paper tape punch and
reader to use TECO?")  followed by download links.

Ted, who still has software on punched cards and paper tapes. Not sure why.



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