[Blindmath] LaTeX editor

[Jason White]

Michael Whapples <mwhapples at aim.com> wrote:
> I tried using vim and I had some documents to help me learn it (not
> the vim documentation) but I never really got on with it. I do see
> what people might like about the use of the keyboard (none of all
> that stretching and trying to get the correct 3+ key combination). I
> guess the bit that kept catching me out was the different modes, let
> your mind wonder for a second and then find out what mode you are in
> (the Braille display being positioned at the cursor gives nothing
> away, it looks the same in any mode). Its probably just a habit you
> should get into if using vim, press escape before doing anything if
> you are unsure what mode you are in (escape puts you back to the
> command mode), a habit I never picked up.

That's definitely the habit to cultivate, but if you're in insert mode,
"insert" will be displayed on the bottom line of the screen, which you can
check before starting to type.

Also, if you're in command mode and type esc it will remain in command mode.

There is, in addition, a lot of consistency in the keyboard commands that
makes them easier to remember, for example the way in which cursor movement
commands are combined with delete (d) and change (c) to modify text - and you
can always specify a number to tell it how many
characters/words/lines/sentences/paragraphs to act upon.

On the negative side, it isn't extensible in the way that Emacs is; there
aren't extensions for everything from reading e-mail to managing appointments,
and dozens of other applications as are available in Emacs.