Ubuntu
vim package

activating insert mode in VI editor

Asked by Manas Ranjan Biswal

hello
can any one suggest me the way to activate the insert mode in VI (ubuntu 10.10).

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Ubuntu vim Edit question
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Solved by:
Manfred Hampl
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Best Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#1

The vi editor is quite complicated to use.
When you start vi, you are in command mode. By entering 'i' you instruct it to insert the following characters before the current cursor position. With <Esc> you exit the insert mode and are in command mode again. You must be aware that you cannot move the cursor when in insert mode!

What I recommend is using other editors like gedit (in an Xorg graphical environment) or nano (in a command line terminal). These editors are in my opinion much easier to use.

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Manas Ranjan Biswal (manas-biswal06) said : 		#2

thanks for ur opinion.
I hv used gedit.but for my project I need vi.I have also used vi in suse and fedora but in ubuntu its little different.Is it vim instead of vi in ubuntu.here if you will press i. from keyboard you wont find anythin.