When I was first getting started in software I was very much part of the "I can think faster than I type" school and I had the good fortune to fall in with some really serious hackers, one of whom was an absolute wizard with `vim`.

He was a very humble guy, so it was some time before I learned he was in no small part such a `vi` pro because he had written a real vi, it was called `xvi` and I gather that it was around the time that `vim` was taking off.

I asked him why he used `vim` if he had written `xvi` and I'll never forget his reply: "Writing a `vi` is something any programmer can do if they put the effort in, writing a `vi` as good as `vim` is something only people like Bram can do. Obviously I'm going to use the better tool."

Bram changed the lives and careers of so many of us, myself included. I never interacted with him personally but from everything I've ever seen he was humble, brilliant, helpful, and took his craft as seriously as anyone I've ever heard of.

RIP Legend.