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.
About This Blog
I am Peter Rukavina and this is my blog. I am a writer, letterpress printer, and a curious person.
To learn more about me, read my /now, look at my bio, listen to audio I’ve posted, read presentations and speeches I’ve written, or get in touch (peter@rukavina.net is the quickest way).
You can subscribe to an RSS feed of posts, an RSS feed of comments, or a podcast RSS feed that just contains audio posts. You can also receive a daily digests of posts by email.
Add new comment