Emacs Installed on RHCE Exam Computer?

Is emacs installed by default on the RHCE exam computer or does it have to be installed on the spot?

I abhor vi/vim and am much more comfortable with emacs.

Thanks.

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log32

knowing how to work with vi is essential for any purpose and not just for the exam.
be prepared for a situation where emacs will not be available for you.
you could also try nano, it's easier than vi.
My approach is to be prepared for the most minimalistic installation of RHEL on the test machine and to be able to handle this kind of situation

Bodanel

On my computer i've already had VIM. A full repo is available so you could install emacs after repo config.

haziz

Dolev wrote: »

knowing how to work with vi is essential for any purpose and not just for the exam.
be prepared for a situation where emacs will not be available for you.
you could also try nano, it's easier than vi.
My approach is to be prepared for the most minimalistic installation of RHEL on the test machine and to be able to handle this kind of situation

I can do the basics in vi, I just intensely hate it and would much rather work with emacs on the CLI.

paul78

@haziz- welcome to TE. It's a pleasure to have one more member that prefers emacs to vile.

As I recall from the last poll, you are only the third person here that admited to preferring emacs.

UnixGuy

I'm gonna agree with the "know your VI" comment. Essential for the exam, and for your career in Linux/Unix. Just get used to it, it will be easy

haziz

UnixGuy wrote: »

I'm gonna agree with the "know your VI" comment. Essential for the exam, and for your career in Linux/Unix. Just get used to it, it will be easy

In real life I have full control on my Linux machines and I always make sure emacs is the first program installed after a fresh Linux install. I am very comfortable with emacs which I use from the CLI not from it's graphical UI; it is my standard text editor as well as my IDE when doing any C programming. I do know the very basics of using vi just in case.

UnixGuy

haziz wrote: »

In real life I have full control on my Linux machines and I always make sure emacs is the first program installed after a fresh Linux install. I am very comfortable with emacs which I use from the CLI not from it's graphical UI; it is my standard text editor as well as my IDE when doing any C programming. I do know the very basics of using vi just in case.

That's good but in times of trouble, there will be no emacs. For example, if the machine is down and you need to go to single user mode for maintenance, then emacs won't be there. If you get a job in the future to work with Unix derivatives like Solaris and AIX, chances are Emacs might not always be there, but VI is definitely there

You don't really to know all the options in VI, just very few really. These happen to be the most options that I use (need) anyway:

1. wq! or wq or q! <== to save a file or quit after editing

2. cw <== 'change word' to replace a word when u edit and write

3. r <== 'replace' a character

4. dd <== 'delete' an entire line

5. x <== 'delete' one character

6. yy then pp <== yank (copy one line then paste it)

those are enough, you can do everything with them

if you want some more

1. 0 <== gets you to the beginning of a line

2. $ <== gets you to the end of a line

3. :5 <== gets you to line number "5'.. ( :n ) <== gets you to line number "n" .... (:$) <== gets you to the last line

haziz

UnixGuy wrote: »

That's good but in times of trouble, there will be no emacs. For example, if the machine is down and you need to go to single user mode for maintenance, then emacs won't be there. If you get a job in the future to work with Unix derivatives like Solaris and AIX, chances are Emacs might not always be there, but VI is definitely there

You don't really to know all the options in VI, just very few really. These happen to be the most options that I use (need) anyway:

1. wq! or wq or q! <== to save a file or quit after editing

2. cw <== 'change word' to replace a word when u edit and write

3. r <== 'replace' a character

4. dd <== 'delete' an entire line

5. x <== 'delete' one character

6. yy then pp <== yank (copy one line then paste it)

those are enough, you can do everything with them if you want some more

1. 0 <== gets you to the beginning of a line

2. $ <== gets you to the end of a line

3. :5 <== gets you to line number "5'.. ( :n ) <== gets you to line number "n" .... (:$) <== gets you to the last line

Emacs IS available on my machines in single user mode, though it would not be if booting an off the shelf rescue cd (and even that can easily be changed by creating my own rescue cd or usb key). I do know the extreme basics of using vi just in case (i, esc, hjkl for direction, x, 0, $, :q, :wq and :q!) but frankly would still rather avoid it. I am not sure why the extreme hostility to emacs on this board, it is after all the "other" extremely well established text editor. Remember also that I am used to using emacs from the command line so I do not need a graphical interface to use it as a text editor.

UnixGuy

Nope, there is no hostility against emacs or any other text editor in here

I'm just sharing my own experience, if you're used to Emacs, then by all means, use it