[TUHS] the first busybox

[Mary Ann Horton via TUHS]

That's interesting. My recollection must be fuzzy.

I see vedit in SVR4 vi (it turns on "novice", "showmode", "report=1", 
and turns off "magic", and doesn't touch "open") but not 4BSD. I must 
have added it after going to Bell Labs in 1981. vi was added to USG UNIX 
4.2 in 1983, IIRC.

I thought I sent ex/vi updates back to Berkeley until 1983. Apparently not.

Thanks,

/Mary Ann Horton/ (she/her/ma'am)
       Keynote Speaker on Inclusion and Innovation
       Award Winning Author
maryannhorton.com <https://maryannhorton.com>



On 10/22/26 14:31, Mychaela Falconia wrote:
> Mary Ann Horton wrote:
>
>> I added the 'd' for 'edit' or 'vedit' in
>> 78, arranging that novice users could invoke it that way to help protect
>> them from common mistakes (like confusion about whether you were in
>> input or command mode).
> What is 'vedit' mode?  At least in the version that made it into
> 4.3BSD, 'edit' turns on 'noopen' mode that disables 'open' and
> 'visual' - so what does it mean to have a "novice" mode that is also
> visual?
>
> M~