Thread

On caring for user data: NeoVim caused Vim undo files to be deleted

384 points · 346 comments · jandeboevrie

fooblaster · 1790522817 · focus · HN ↗
How does one use persistent undo in vim?
1. fooblaster · 1790522930 · focus · HN ↗
  Talk about poor duty of care to users... been using him for 20 years and I have to enable it in my vimrc to take effect. So stupid. Why would I want this to be off?
  Such amazing design...
  " Enable persistent undo set undofile
  1. layer8 · 1790523826 · focus · HN ↗
    It’s somewhat important for privacy reasons that the feature is opt-in. I don’t know if that’s the reason historically, but I wouldn’t want a text editor to persistently store a copy of everything I type without my consent. It’s almost like a keylogger.
    Making privacy-sensitive features opt-in is a form of duty of care as well, to avert harm from the user.
    phoghed · 1790526112 · focus · HN ↗
    Edit history in JetBrains being on by default saved my bacon a few times over the years.

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