Editor straw poll results
Eric S. Raymond
the results of a previous poll by Brent Woods in finding usage is split
almost evenly between emacs and vi.
The possible responses offered were:
a) I always use emacs, never vi.
b) I use emacs most of the time, vi seldom.
c) I use emacs and vi about equally.
d) I use vi most of the time, emacs seldom.
e) I always use vi, never use emacs.
f) I use emacs for large edits and complex jobs, vi for small quick changes.
g) None of the above.
There were 178 respondents in total. Responses were as follows:
a) 36
b) 28
c) 6
d) 18
e) 58
f) 23
g) 9
Additional observations:
As my own position is f), I consider myself relatively neutral in the
editor wars.
The apparent edge for vi in the stats above appears to be due to poor
construction of the questions. Comments enclosed with the responses
make it clear that many people interpreted them more literally than I
expected, and since even the most hardened emacs junkies use vi for
some system setup and administration tasks this tended to pull votes
away from emacs.
I found the number of g) responses amusing.
Votes of the respondents are summarized below:
a) Adrian Mariano <blake.u.washington.edu!theorem>
a) Bill Westfield <cisco.com!billw>
a) Bob Hamilton <hpsis04.hpl.hp.com!ham>
a) Cliff Wallach <chinet.chi.il.us!cliff>
a) Empress Mocha Hiryu <milton.u.washington.edu!byrdie>
a) Florin Spanachi <pylos.enet.dec.com!spanachi>
a) Floyd Davidson <ims.alaska.edu!floyd>
a) Joan Eslinger <kilimanjaro.key.com!wombat>
a) Johnny Eriksson <sunic.sunet.se!bygg>
a) Jon Allen Boone <andrew.cmu.edu!jb3o+>
a) Magnus Olsson <thep.lu.se!magnus>
a) Niels Ull Jacobsen <diku.dk!null>
a) Pat Scheible <milton.u.washington.edu!kkt>
a) Per Andersson <admin.kth.se!perand>
a) R James Noble <comp.vuw.ac.nz!kjx>
a) Ralph Melton <portia.stanford.edu!ralphm>
a) Richard Flamsholt S0rensen <iesd.auc.dk!richard>
a) Robert E. Seastrom <EDDIE.MIT.EDU!rs>
a) Scott Telford <cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk!scott>
a) Morgan.COM!sethb (Seth Breidbart)
a) NAIROBI.MT.CS.CMU.EDU!ndb
a) SCTC.COM!boebert (Earl Boebert)
a) ads.com!rar (Bob Riemenschneider)
a) ai.mit.edu!burley (Craig Burley)
a) anubis.network.com!ddb (David Dyer-Bennet)
a) aplpy.jhuapl.edu!levene (Robert A. Levene)
a) cirrusl!oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com!dhesi (Rahul Dhesi)
a) cmos!cs.utah.edu!jacobs (Steven R. Jacobs)
a) emil.CSD.UU.SE!uli (Ulf Lindb{ck)
a) emily.UVM.EDU!griffin.UVM.EDU!wollman (Garrett Wollman)
a) kira.UVM.EDU!griffin.UVM.EDU!cavrak
a) pandora.matrox.com!marc (Marc P. Rinfret)
a) relay.EU.net!vexpert!mst (Markus Stumptner)
a) sadye.UVM.EDU!griffin.UVM.EDU!emerson
a) templar.actrix.gen.nz!jbickers (John Bickers)
a) eric remy <portia.stanford.edu!edremy>
b) "Rev. Ben A. Mesander" <oddjob.uchicago.edu!uokmax!epmooch!ben>
b) Bob Stratton <nmdsc20.nmdsc.nnmc.navy.mil!dsc3rjs>
b) Damian Cugley <prg.oxford.ac.uk!Damian.Cugley>
b) Damian Cugley <prg.oxford.ac.uk!Damian.Cugley>
b) Evan Kirshenbaum <hplerk.hpl.hp.com!evan>
b) Knut Borge <usit.uio.no!kborge>
b) Larry Setlow <cpac.washington.edu!pjt>
b) Lennart Augustsson <cs.chalmers.se!augustss>
b) Paul Shields <nexus.yorku.ca!shields>
b) Piet van Oostrum <cs.ruu.nl!piet>
b) Pieter Bowman <math.utah.edu!bowman>
b) Sill D E <de5.ctd.ornl.gov!de5>
b) BU.EDU!sandman
b) DIALix.oz.au!philsuth (Phil Sutherland)
b) cs.tamu.edu!ellenm (Ellen L Mitchell)
b) csrd.uiuc.edu!eijkhout (Victor Eijkhout)
b) diana.cair.du.edu!rwelch (RANDY S WELCH)
b) dynas.se!sgren (Johannes Sjogren)
b) max.physics.sunysb.edu!sss (Scott S. Snyder)
b) ni.csc.ti.com!steele (Jeri Steele)
b) pta.oz.au!major (Major)
b) shemesh.gba.nyu.edu!ittai (Ittai Hershman)
b) snoopy.Colorado.EDU!kantor (KANTOR ADRIENNE CAROL)
b) tesla.math.YALE.EDU!victor (Mladen Victor Wickerhauser)
b) ucrmath.ucr.edu!proton!baumann (Michael Baumann)
b) uklirb.informatik.uni-kl.de!RELAY.CS.NET!bruno
b) visix.com!jeff (Jeff Barr)
b) wpi.wpi.edu!cwright (Charles R Wright)
c) David Fetrow <milton.u.washington.edu!fetrow>
c) Jo Are Rosland <ifi.uio.no!jar>
c) ATHENA.MIT.EDU!seaotter
c) dalek.iWarp.intel.com!sjb
c) network!ucsd.edu!slamont (Steve Lamont)
c) van-bc!mindlink!Anthon_Pang (Anthon Pang)
d) "Mark Riordan" <clvax1.cl.msu.edu!riordanmr>
d) Charles Grant <u.washington.edu!charlesg>
d) Gerben 'P' Vos <cs.vu.nl!gpvos>
d) Laszlo Nemeth <eclipse.Colorado.EDU!laszlo>
d) Arco.COM!dprpjf (Paul Fowler)
d) EBay.Sun.COM!koreth (Steven Grimm)
d) Sceard.COM!mrm (M.R.Murphy)
d) apple.com!netcom!tilman (Tilman Spokert)
d) digibd.com!steve (Steve Wahl)
d) egsner.cirr.com!eric (Eric Schnoebelen)
d) gpsd.trc.amoco.com!zbeh0a (Bryan E. Helvey)
d) lanai!brian (Brian Cooper)
d) lvw6.lvw.loral.com!ed (Ed Allen)
d) tahoe.unr.edu!malc (Malcolm L. Carlock)
d) transarc.com!Pat_Barron
d) vicstoy!jellis (Jacob Ellis)
d) xanth.b11.ingr.com!richard (Richard Griffiths )
d) zorch.SF-Bay.ORG!phil (Phil Gustafson)
e) "Anna L. Zahn" <ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!azahn>
e) "F. L. Charles Seeger III" <thedon.cis.ufl.edu!seeger>
e) "J. Eric Townsend" <uh.edu!jet>
e) Alan J Rosenthal <dgp.toronto.edu!flaps>
e) Andre Berthiaume <iro.umontreal.ca!berthiau>
e) Bill Fischer <chinet.chi.il.us!wmf>
e) Christopher Kranz <splash.Princeton.EDU!clk>
e) Jeff Benjamin <hpfcdq.fc.hp.com!benji>
e) Keenan Royle <iuvax.cs.indiana.edu!royle>
e) Matthias Urlichs <smurf.sub.org!RELAY.CS.NET!urlichs>
e) Michael O'Donnell (508)392-1915 <westford.ccur.com!RELAY.CS.NET!mod>
e) Paul Gerwitz <Kodak.COM!gerwitz>
e) Pete French <ohm.york.ac.uk!pete>
e) RAMontante <iuvax.cs.indiana.edu!bobmon>
e) Russ Kepler <unmvax.cs.unm.edu!bbx!russ>
e) ATHENA.MIT.EDU!purdon
e) Aus.Sun.COM!glenn (Glenn Satchell - SW Support Aus)
e) Aus.Sun.COM!pauline (Pauline van Winsen)
e) BBN.COM!cosell
e) Eng.Sun.COM!bradr (Brad Rubenstein)
e) acf4.NYU.EDU!mcqueen (David M. McQueen)
e) ads.com!dglo (Dave Glowacki)
e) amc.com!julia (Julia Haviland)
e) bruce.cs.monash.OZ.AU!tym (Tim MacKenzie)
e) cbnewsc.att.com!kimes
e) coat.com!andyb (Andy Behrens)
e) decwrl!fernwood!portal!apple!starnet!mzellers (Mark Zellers)
e) dg-rtp.dg.com!peace (John Peace)
e) ecn.purdue.edu!bob (Robert A Rusbasan)
e) ecn.purdue.edu!woodsb (Brent L. Woods)
e) emory.mathcs.emory.edu!dscatl!daysinns!alanf
e) eplrx7!leipold (Walt Leipold)
e) erlang.tisl.ukans.edu!neir
e) fuug.fi!atomica!lauri (Lauri Aarnio)
e) hrcca.att.com!bobc
e) iastate.edu!john
e) ima.isc.com!brian (Brian Holt Hawthorne)
e) inmet.inmet.com!tighe (Michael Tighe)
e) micrognosis.co.uk!nreadwin
e) ncsa.uiuc.edu!hirchert (Kurt Hirchert)
e) nmr-z.MGH.Harvard.Edu!mike (Mike Vevea)
e) odyssey.att.com!gls
e) polyslo.CalPoly.EDU!ddelany (Charlie Brown)
e) pta.oz.au!bgg (Ben Golding)
e) ptcburp.ptcbu.oz.au!rick (Rick Stevenson)
e) pyrite.nj.pyramid.com!bill (Bill Pechter)
e) sendai.cs.mu.OZ.AU!rgg (Rupert G. Goldie)
e) shadow.pyramid.com!moliver (Mike Oliver)
e) sprite.Berkeley.EDU!shirriff (Ken Shirriff)
e) sun16.scri.fsu.edu!sandee (Daan Sandee)
e) thunderbird.Berkeley.EDU!harry (Harry I. Rubin)
e) tnessd!mechrw (Robert Wallace )
e) tronsbox.xei.com!dfrancis (Dennis Heffernan)
e) ucscf.UCSC.EDU!hermit (William R. Ward)
e) ulysses.att.com!cjc
e) vicstoy!vickde (Vick De Giorgio)
e) l...@shell.com (Bill Lee)
e) mneerach <iiic.ethz.ch!mneerach>
f) Anders Ellefsrud <ifi.uio.no!anders>
f) Andrew Oram <westford.ccur.com!RELAY.CS.NET!andyo>
f) Barry Margolin <Think.COM!barmar>
f) Bob Manson <cis.ohio-state.edu!manson>
f) Chris Siebenmann <hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu!cks>
f) Icarus Sparry <gdt.bath.ac.uk!I.Sparry>
f) Michael K. Gschwind<relay.EU.net!vlsivie!mike>
f) Odd Einar Aurbakken <ifi.uio.no!oea>
f) Richard Todd <oddjob.uchicago.edu!servalan!rmtodd>
f) Tim Oldham <its.bt.co.uk!tjo>
f) William Lewis <milton.u.washington.edu!wiml>
f) Alliant.COM!werme (Ric Werme)
f) ai.mit.edu!bson (Jan Brittenson)
f) ai.mit.edu!friedman (Noah Friedman)
f) ama.caltech.edu!ph (Paul Hardy)
f) bucrsb!abw
f) eng.umd.edu!djm (David J. MacKenzie)
f) gmuvax2.gmu.edu!mhovan (Mike Hovan)
f) gonzo-private.twg.com!nolan
f) meaddata.com!dem (David Myers)
f) osf.org!dbrooks
f) toaster.SFSU.EDU!worden (Lee Worden)
f) uvmark!todd (Todd Cooper)
g) Benny Demon <kuling.DoCS.UU.SE!kpj>
g) Jack Campin <cs.glasgow.ac.uk!jack>
g) Jonathan Leech <cs.unc.edu!leech>
g) attunix.att.com!mingus (Marcel-Franck Simon)
g) erebus.att.com!wcs (William Clare Stewart)
g) mtxinu.COM!shore (Melinda Shore)
g) spca.bbn.com!pdsmith
g) sq.com!msb (Mark Brader)
g) stl.stc.co.uk!A.R.McKenzie
--
Eric S. Raymond = er...@snark.thyrsus.com (mad mastermind of TMN-Netnews)