Tab wars revisited (was Re: Python indentation)

[Peter Hansen]

Steve Lamb wrote:

>     What Istvan is using is better known, to me at least, as "the vi
> argument".  IE, it was best for people to learn vi over another editor because
> one could be stuck with nothing but vi to do editing with since all unixes
> came with vi stock.  Whatever would someone do if they were incapable of using
> their preferred editor and stuck *only* with vi!?
> 
>     Nevermind that there are now several well used flavors of unix which do
> not come stock with vi or, at the very least, only vi.  And some of the
> situations that the people would create.  "What if you only had a laptop, an
> install disc for intel solaris and were stuck on a stranded isle with no
> network access to get anything else!?  You really need to conserve battery
> power so you can't waste time learning vi then but you need it to write the
> perfect program to calculate the best method of communication using firewood.
> YOU DON'T KNOW VI!!!  WHAT WOULD YOU DO!!!!!  AIYEEEEEE!!!!"  Ok, I may be
> exagerrating a tiny bit but only a tiny bit.  

I'm actually pretty inept with vi (or vim), to the point that I don't
actually know how to configure it for use with Python.  And every
now and then, I'm forced to use it.  When that happens, I find
that writing my little one-off (since inevitably that's what it
is, even if it's to figure out how to use smoke signals on a
desert island) is best done with single spaces.  Bingo-bango, no
typing disadvantage over TABs...  even better, I get to use
my *thumb*, which is much stronger than my middle finger, and
don't need to move my wrist at all, decreasing the effect of the
whole process on my carpal tunnel syndrome.

Basically, the "vi argument" has no merit, since the only times
one can't get access to a decent editor, preconfigured to do the
Right Thing with Python, is an emergency, and in an emergency,
single spaces work as well as tabs.  End of argument. :-)  (No,
really, that will stop the discussion permanently.  Really!)

-Peter