14

Vim is almost a proper superset of vi, but they're still two different editors, with two different names. Should we create and ?

1
  • 1
    Vim has all the features of vi, vi is not all that vim has so we can assist users of two editors.
    – avelino
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 17:08

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
8

The tag is unavailable - it's considered "intrinsic" to the site; every question is assumed to be about vi or a derived editor unless otherwise noted.

...Which means it's important to tag questions that aren't about vi with a tag that indicates the specific editor being asked about. Chances are, will be the most common tag here - [Update: that's not working either; folks don't use it consistently at all. It's now blacklisted too.] What's not ok is failing to use other tags to indicate the specific nature of the question. You'll need tags to indicate...

  • ...the OS platform being used
  • ...the specific editing feature being asked about
  • ...any relevant add-ons being used

Comprehensive tagging is important to establish early - that's why during this private beta, anyone using the site can create new tags. But do exercise care: more tags are not always better. Strive to create and use tags that are both descriptive of the specific topics being asked about and generally useful to others interested in the same topics.

8
  • 4
    That's kinda a ripoff, I'd prefer to assume vim unless otherwise stated. Oh well.
    – Seth
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 17:22
  • 1
    You really want vim adding to almost every question, or to assume if we miss 'vim' we meant 'vi'?
    – Chris Jefferson
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 18:10
  • 2
    Like the others said, I think vim should be the default assumption, and vi or a more specific tag should be used if the question requires it. Yes, vi is installed on every unix out there, but I'd assume it's mostly used for quick edits and fixes and not so much for more involved work that leads to questions. Surely there will be enough questions that deal with solving a task and having only vi available, but I hope they will be rare in comparison to vim questions and become rarer over the years as vim gains ground. That said, I couldn't find any vi vs vim usage statistics to prove my point.
    – l4mpi
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 18:51
  • Here's the question, @l4mpi: what's going to be easier, making sure that editor-agnostic questions are tagged appropriately, or making sure that editor-specific questions are tagged according to the editor? Keeping in mind that, for the purpose of this site, [vi] corresponds to "editor agnostic".
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 19:17
  • Not sure you got my point: vi and vim solutions are often rather distinct. Thus I'd guesss most questions will editor-specific; the best solution for vi on solaris 6 will most likely work in vim but it will also most likely not be a good vim solution, and the best vim solution will usually not work in vi. Thus the answer to most questions depend on if OP has the full power of vim available; and IMO the default assumption should be they do (which I sadly can't back by statistics). Also, for the purpose of searching answers and questions to answer, a vi tag feels more useful than a vim tag.
    – l4mpi
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 19:33
  • If you're proposing that both tags be allowed, you might make a better argument in an answer here, @l4mpi. If you're proposing that [vim] be intrinsic (that is, no vim tag allowed), you should start a separate discussion.
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 19:39
  • Yes, I think it would be more useful to have [vim] be intrinsic and [vi] as a sign for "I have to do some work without all those shiny vim features". It depends a bit on the community as well, if most people share my view of vim being the default and thus default to give vim-specific answers even if no vim tag is present. I guess a separate discussion (or feature request as it's a request for changing the intrinsic tag?) would be appropriate.
    – l4mpi
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 19:48
  • Didn't even need to ask it myself: meta.vi.stackexchange.com/questions/4/…
    – l4mpi
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 21:38
1

I think it might make asking questions clearer. If I ask something about Vi and use the Vi tag, someone will not suggest something that only works in Vim.

2
  • Should the vi tag refer only to the Bill Joy original?
    – derobert
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 17:16
  • 8
    @derobert Having experience from the TeX - LaTeX site, I would suggest not: the B.J.'s original should get a longer tag name, otherwise people never use it correctly. We ended with tex-core and plain-tex, and we blacklisted latex for question about LaTeX itself in favour of latex-project. I would suggest original-vi for the B.J.'s version.
    – yo'
    Commented Feb 3, 2015 at 18:31

You must log in to answer this question.