Ask Ed

Ed

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Q: Where do you work and what do you do?

Ed: I'm a Line Editor working for UNIX. Been here since the early days. Ken Thompson gave me my start.

Q: Do you do any moonlighting?

Ed: Here and there. The Free Software Foundation put me to work for GNU and DOS, but I'm mostly a UNIX guy.

Q: What's your workload like at UNIX?

Ed: I'm always here! But folks don't ask me to do much like they used to. They're letting the new kids on the block -- the Word Processors -- take most of the work. It's rough. My son, Ex, and I had decent careers as Line Editors, and my grandson, Vi, has had a great career as a Screen Editor, but I worry that these Word Processors are going to take all the jobs!

Q: Can you tell me more about your family?

Ed: Well, I'm so proud of my son, Ex. He followed in my footsteps and became a Line Editor. Working for UNIX like me. But, you know the younger generation, always having to be fancy. It was my son's idea to use the colon : in command mode. Fancy! A blank line is good enough for me.

Q: And what about your grandson, Vi?

Ed: Just goes to show you that the generations will build on each other if given a chance. Vi was always a little different. He wasn't ever content focusing on one thing at a time -- had to be a Screen Editor. A Line Editor wasn't Big Enough for him! That's progress, I guess. I love him, but we see things differently... The Generation Gap.

Q: Who's in command there at UNIX?

Ed: We've got Mr. Bash (a real take-charge guy), Ms. Bourne, C (from China) and a few others -- a good team!

Q: Do you hang-out much with other editors?

Ed: Every once in awhile I see Emacs in the cafeteria -- MASSIVE EGO, he thinks he's an Environment! And when I'm moonlighting at DOS, I visit my favorite second cousin, Edlin, who is the black sheep of the family because he works for that Other company. But he's a Line Editor, too, so I forgive him.

Q: Are there any articles about you? I'd like to know more!

Ed: As a matter of fact, my friend Brian Kernighan wrote a nice piece about me. You can read it if you want.

Q: Thanks, Ed!

Ed: You're welcome!
q
%date
Wed May 16 10:10:23 MDT 2007
%whoami
ewilli


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