Just to follow up, earlier I wrote > bash$ stevie myfile.txt > > and then use > > :open > > to go into "open mode". Upon playing with "stevie" it seems that it doesn't actually support "open mode", but "elvis" (another vi clone) does. For elvis, you can do the same thing: bash$ elvis myfile.txt :open or you can specify that you want to use open mode at the command-line: bash$ elvis -G open myfile.txt which you can alias with alias evi='elvis -G open' to make it easier. -tim _______________________________________________ Blinux-list mailing list Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list