[GSoC] About the idea: Unicode support in vi

[Zhihao Yuan]

On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 11:05 AM, Pan Tsu <inyaoo at gmail.com> wrote:
> Zhihao Yuan <lichray at gmail.com> writes:
>
>>> Why not just use "traditional vi"?
>>>
>>>   http://ex-vi.sourceforge.net/ (lives under editors/2bsd-vi)
>>
>> This one lacks of many feature, compared with nvi.
>
> nvi also lacks some features, e.g. lisp, modelines, sourceany.
> ex-vi is more lightweight
>
>  # both built with DEBUG_FLAGS=-ggdb + mg(1) for reference
>
>  $  du -Ah *
>  1.9M    nvi
>  556K    ex-vi
>  505K    mg
>
>  $ size *
>     text    data     bss     dec     hex filename
>   329080    1952    4528  335560   51ec8 nvi
>   175675    5048  233024  413747   65033 ex-vi
>   128570    9760   10184  148514   24422 mg

nvi is a rewrite of the original vi, so this only shows that the new
implementation uses more symbols. The actual binary results are just a
120K difference.

>
>> I'm not sure whether the FreeBSD system administrators (who opens 100
>> ssh sessions) agree with that to replace the nvi in base system with
>> this one.
>
> Do they expect more features beyond POSIX vi?

Like multiple windows. This has been discussed y other BSDs before.

>
>> However, it's source code can be a great reference for a mbyte-capable
>> nvi.
>

-- 
Zhihao Yuan
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.