Julia Evans blogs about technology, and today’s post Batch editing files with ed is an excellent example of her clear-headed style.

Like Julia, I’ve had a longtime aversion to the Unix ed editor, based purely on ignorance. The magic key that Julia’s blog post unlocked for me is that ed is just like vi, but without a visual interface.

As I have vi burned into my muscle memory, this was a powerful revelation.

Julia closes the deal with a pointer to the book Ed Mastery, which I’ve just purchased based solely on the strength of her recommendation.

I’m so looking forward to taking my new-found text-unmangling skills out for a ride.

If you find yourself in need of an even broader approach to Ed, may I humbly recommend the biography of my great-grandfather Big Ed Caswell. It won’t help you edit text files, but it will teach you something about steely determination.