Editing Editor war (section)

{{Short description|Rivalry between Emacs and vi text editors}}
{{for|the type of conflict between Wikipedia editors|edit war}}
{{Tone|date=September 2024}}
The '''editor war''' is the rivalry between users of the [[Emacs]] and [[Vi (text editor)|vi]] (now usually [[Vim (text editor)|Vim]], or more recently [[Neovim]]) [[text editor]]s. The rivalry has become an enduring part of [[hacker culture]] and the [[free software movement|free software community]].

The Emacs versus vi debate was one of the original "holy wars" conducted on [[Usenet]] groups.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/~joern/jargon/holywars.HTML |title=Holy War (Hacker Jargon) |access-date=2016-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402134919/http://www.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/~joern/jargon/holywars.HTML |archive-date=2012-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since at least 1985, many [[Flaming (Internet)|flame wars]] have occurred between those insisting that their editor of choice is the [[wikt:paragon|paragon]] of editing perfection, and insulting the opposing group accordingly.<ref name=emacsvsvi>{{Cite web |url=https://www.linux.com/news/emacs-vs-vi-endless-geek-holy-war |title=EMACS vs. vi: The endless geek 'holy war' |access-date=2016-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130184702/https://www.linux.com/news/emacs-vs-vi-endless-geek-holy-war |archive-date=2016-11-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Related battles have been fought over operating systems, [[programming language]]s, [[version control]] systems, and even source code [[indent style]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/just-let-me-code/240168735|title=Just Let Me Code|access-date=2015-04-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501233433/http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/just-let-me-code/240168735|archive-date=2015-05-01|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/10/25/why-coding-style-matters/|title=Why Coding Style Matters|access-date=2015-04-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503202415/http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/10/25/why-coding-style-matters/|archive-date=2015-05-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>