[jki275]

Why not just write the basic instructions up on the board? Or give them a handout with the basic command keys?

[na85]

Why not just use an editor without awful UX?

[waynecochran]

That would have been my choice. Unfortunately I wasn't the one that made the decision to have the students use vi.

[jki275]

It's not really awful, especially when you compare it to something like ed, edlin, or edt...

[na85]

The fact that $thing has some negative qualities is not erased by pointing at $otherThing which scores lower on that particular dimension.

[jki275]

There aren't really any editors that have no negative qualities...

vi is a very good editor. You have to learn about three things to use it effectively. It's really not a high bar to entry.

[waynecochran]

You can lead a horse to water, but he will still start typing before reading instructions.