I'm a sysadmin, and most of what I do (editing config files) is very efficiently done in nano.
Edit a vhost in apache/nginx.
Change a port number on a service.
edit rc.conf,
etc...
But I've discovered that by using vim macros, the tedious parts of using nano became easy and FASTER then nano.
Let's say you have to declare a bunch of IP's and you can't just type a range, you have to type out each one.
In nano: copy/paste each line then backspace to change the last octet.
TEDIOUS
In vim: write it once
record a macro of doing it a second time auto-incrementing the last octet.
now type: 199@w (or whatever letter you stored that macro in)
BOOM, 199 new lines have been input.
That 1 use case, made me use vim more.
Then I got better.
Then I got faster.
Now I can edit those same old config files faster then I once did in nano.
Please believe me, it's worth the learning curve. There is SO MUCH MORE available then just editing some config files.
Nano is fine. There is nothing wrong with nano.
If you only edit (config) files a couple of times a year, then maybe you won't want to switch. But I'm so much better at vim then I was before, I use it to do ALL my writing and editing.
Literally nobody is asking you to use vim. In fact, I don't recommend it to newbies, and warn that a lot of setup is involved. But I am 100x more productive in it than any other IDE, or seen anyone else with an IDE. It works for me. It may not work for you, that's fine.
You might be well served by not seeking out the company of vim users then. There’s better things to spend this life on than arguing about editors, plugins, and keybindings.
Yes there's a learning curve but once you've learned that it can be more efficient. For some people key bindings are easy to remember. For others a menu is better even though it's slower to navigate.
But clearly it isn't for you. It isn't for me either, though I did try. I just don't really have a reproducible workflow (I'm not a dev). In that case the setup overhead does indeed not pay off. If you spend every day in an IDE I could definitely see it working out.
Even on my work mac I often prefer using the cli for things that others would do in the GUI. They find that archaic and overly complex. I find it simple and faster. Opinions vary :)
I've been using Vim since college and nothing else and I could retire at 33 from my FAANG RSUs so it worked for me. Have fun "getting shit done" in VSCode or whatever. Honestly if someone told me they hated memorizing commands or configuring their environment in an interview I would see that as a big red flag, but you do you.
Most of it unvested stock and not enough to retire at 33.
Thanks to the great people running the economy, if you get to survive all layoffs taking place and vest that money, you'll be able to buy an avocado toast made of soylent green in the metaverse of the future. You will own nothing and be happy.
