Computer Science Department Unix Primer

vi

Warning: vi (pronounced 'vee eye') is not for the faint of heart. To beginners, vi's syntax and dual-mode structure can seem needlessly cryptic, but after time, it becomes second nature. Learning vi is a must for anybody who wants to pursue unix/linux systems adminsitration, simply because it is ubiquitous, that is, it is available on every unix system you're likely to run into.

vi reference card

Emergency procedure for getting out of trouble in vi: press [Esc] to return to command mode, then press :q! to exit without saving. To undo, type u in command mode.