Re: ksh: allow editing empty line with 'v' in vi-mode

Thus said Johannes Thyssen Tishman on Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:26:12 -0000:

> This  is only  possible if  HISTCONTROL doesn't  include 'ignorespace'
> (see my reply to Uwe). While I  could simply remove that option and do
> as  you suggest,  I  think  that allowing  ^[v  in  empty lines  *and*
> ignoring white-space only commands is a valid use case.

I didn't  realize that  HISTCONTROL impacted  this. Thanks  for pointing
this out.

I too think that it's a valid use  case if it can be distinguished to be
intentional by the  user. My only concern is that  it introduces another
potential misbehavior or at least surprising behavior. If my terminal is
already in command  mode and I want  to type a command  beginning with v
(like vacation, vi, vipw, view), will I accidentally get thrown into the
vi editor,  when what  I really  wanted was  to just  type one  of those
commands? Right now what happens is that I get a bell (visual or audio),
letting me know that  I'm not in edit mode. Or  does the suggested patch
imply that it would  only enter vi mode upon receiving  both ^[v in some
duration of time, e.g.  after 250ms if no v is observed  after the ^[ do
not permit the v to enter edit mode?

Thanks,

Andy