Vim users: stop using hjkl

Let's talk about being a fool and talking about things I don't understand.

I have started (and self-funded) at more than three technology businesses in my life. I am in the process of starting two more.

In all cases these businesses started in my garage (one actually in my closet, before I had a garage) and managed to grow to the point where I got them out of the garage and actually hired many people.

Some of these businesses shipped product internationally, all over the world.

All of these businesses were hardware and software businesses.

Some succeeded and others failed.

And, in every single case, different technologies and tools came into the fold.

In no case whatsoever --not one-- across THIRTY YEARS of entrepreneurship did a fucking text editor have anything whatsoever to do with the success or failure of the enterprise or project.

Across a wide range of languages and technologies: machine language (actually typed-in code with a hex keypad), assembler (various processors), Forth, C, APL, C++, Fortran, Visual Basic, Lisp, Python, PHP, JavaScript, Objective-C, Verilog, 8080, 8085, 80x86, PDP1104, 6502, MC68K, PowerPC, Xilinx FPGA's, PC, Mac, Linux, embedded, workstation and server software and a few other things I probably don't remember doing.

Not once. Not ONE TIME. Have I experienced a situation where using something like vim would provide any advantage whatsoever.

And, yes, I use vim on my Linux servers because it's there. I don't have to think about it. It's the tool that comes with the box and I use it. From there to actually CHOOSE to use vim everywhere for coding our projects and to go past that and evangelize vim? That would be insane. There far more moving parts and issues in a business or in any piece of software for a text editor to make any real difference whatsoever. You can go on believing it does. And that's fine. That's not going to make it any real than believing in the tooth fairy.

Show me a real project and a real business that came in on-time, bug-free, profitably and ahead of schedule BECAUSE OF vim and I'll gladly eat my words. Because I actually happen to know what I am talking about I can say with absolute confidence that the whole thing is a big smelly pile of bullshit. If the authors had the tools, keyboards and peripherals we have today vim would have been completely and utterly different. Do you honestly believe that these guys CHOSE to have modes because of some divine revelation? No, they didn't have the friggin keys and needed to come-up with a solution. The same reason Wordstar had shit like Ctrl-K-X.

Today. Sure. Imagine my surprise when I see yet another bullshit vim article on HN, this one now saying "don't use the hjkl" keys. When will the madness stop?

Newbie programmers reading HN actually need to hear from someone who clearly sees that the emperor has no clothes. Some look at HN as the reference by which they ought to shape their learning and careers. There's a definite pro-vim bend here. And it's all bullshit.

If your goal is to be an entrepreneur, focus on the stuff that actually matters and is many orders of magnitude more signifiant than a ridiculous text editor from an era when keyboards had letters, numbers and three or four extra buttons.

If you want to be a fast data entry operator, definitely spend months getting good at vim.

Better yet, buy one of those single-hand chord-based text entry keypads and modify vim to work with it. You'll be able to type faster and with only one hand. Not sure if the work will have any quality at all or if it will be bug free or if you will be building anything anyone wants or if it will be profitable, but it will be awesome to behold.

And my point is that it does not matter. Use the mouse. Use the arrow keys. Use the function keys. Use a GUI. Use multiple monitors.

If we are talking about productivity and code quality, the editor is orders of magnitude less significant than a huge list of other things. It does not matter.

Then we have someone now saying "don't use the hjkl" keys. Really? How far is the idiocy going to go?

If I am building a business or a product the last thing on my mind is what text editor we will be using. It is so ridiculously insignificant in the grand scheme of things that seeing people focus on it is beyond comprehension.

you've boiled the whole argument down into whether a text editor is the pillar upon which a successful product is built. Well of course not! Nobody is even claiming that. Some people are merely expressing it allows them to put thought onto paper a little quicker, or that they just enjoy it. Others just enjoy being able to tweak their editor, it's a fun meta activity for any programmer.

It's fine that it might not be the most optimal way to spend your time, or that you don't get it. but relax already

"machine language (actually typed-in code with a hex keypad), assembler (various processors), Forth, C, APL, C++, Fortran, Visual Basic, Lisp, Python, PHP, JavaScript, Objective-C, Verilog, 8080, 8085, 80x86, PDP1104, 6502, MC68K, PowerPC, Xilinx FPGA's, PC, Mac, Linux, embedded, workstation and server software and a few other things I probably don't remember doing."

For all that name dropping of the vast and expansive techs you've worked with, you seem to be extremely close minded on this issue.