[Despite the one message being fired off into -advocacy, I'm leaving this
 in current-users.  One can mkae a case for either list, I think, but
 all of the messages in this thread are here...]

>> Wait, did I mention ed?
>
>> Yes.  ed.  It's not glitzy.  It feels a little primitive, BUT: It's
>> quite simple to learn how to use;
>
>Only if you already know regexps.  Otherwise the s command will act in
>various surprising ways when you happen to unwittingly use a regexp
>character in it.  Perhaps ed needs a way to disable regexps.

I agree.  That's why I had in mind only pointing out a core set of
features of ed.  Perhaps I didn't make that clear.  The set would be
approximately:

 Line numbers, line-ranges (for display), insertion, deletion,
 save-and-quit, quit-without-save.

 (Line ranges would be described exclusively in terms of line-numbers,
  though it might be hinted that there are other ways to address lines.)

Nothing fancy, just functional.

  "I probably don't know what I'm talking about."  --rkr@rkr.kcnet.com