When I use an editor, I don't want eight extra KILOBYTES of worthless help screens and cursor positioning code! I just want an EDitor!! Not a “viitor”. Not a “emacsitor”. Those aren't even WORDS!!!! ED! ED! ED IS THE STANDARD!!!

For the uninitiated: http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/ed-msg.html

For the uninitiated: "Eight Megs And Constantly Swapping"

This page has lots more: http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/gnuemacs.acro.exp.html

I think for a lot of hackers, being able to run from over a terminal/ssh is a critical "design" feature.

Arrgh. Emacs on the terminal is a joy, and is present on more servers than you think (dreamhost for instance).

Having said that I default to 'vi foo.txt' on the command line and feel like vi competency is a core server skill ...

If you haven't used TRAMP to view and edit files on other servers from your local emacs session, you should give it a try.

TRAMP's nifty, but it used to lock up emacs on shaky connections. Maybe it's better now?

I'm particularly fond of Nano. :)