Quote Originally Posted by Durand Hicks
Me too! I purged vi because, I couldn't figure that editor out. How anyone ended up liking vi as an editor is beyond me, that is the most unfriendly, unintiutive editor I have ever laid eyes on. Perhaps the warning could have said that it can be edited in a straight ascii editor such as nano, mcedit, ... you get the idea, as long as it is anything but vi.
The warning is there because when using the visudo it locks the file and prevents any other editing access to it for as long as you have it open this is the same reason vipw exists as well. Oh and BTW you were using VIM (vi improved) not VI if you think it was bad you should try the real thing.