I’ve been a vim (and :x) user for about a decade, and have never once faced this issue. I don’t think I’m a particularly exceptional person, so I tend to suspect my experience isn’t far from average.

In any case, if you’re using vim or the like to edit files without buffering, source control, or backup, I get that it sucks but that footgun had your name on it from the start.

I've been a vim user for 15 years and I still often type `:Q` and `:W`. Everyone types differently and some people make mistakes.

Your blaming the victim instead of the software.

What parent @waisbrot is saying seems uncommon (the source of this whole conversation), but granted, perhaps common enough (or is it instead worrisome enough) that nvim community took it out.

I still type :Q and :W as well, but that is not what is being discussed.

Have you ever irrevocably bricked your system, as @waisbrot mentioned they have twice, from typing :W or :Q? Have you ever bricked your system from typing :X? If so, that isn’t a “use :x vs :wq” problem, that’s seems more of a use common sense problem.

OP said exactly "I've twice encrypted my file with password like `cd tmp`"

Not sure how you get "irrevocably bricked your system" from "encrypted my file", but you do you, I guess

You should also let the OP do the OP. They said they made a mistake. Simply, without complaining, and they do something else now. It's that simple

Parent (not OP) said more exactly

> I've twice encrypted my file with password like `cd tmp`, then saved the config file, breaking my system.

I get “irrevocably bricked system” from the fact that they “broke their system” and I am inferring it could only be something worth mentioning if it were irreversible.

I originally was trying to point out that parent was off-topic, because :x and :X are different. But a fleet of downvotes flooded in, so I defended my viewpoint for the catharsis.

Me either, but that's because I type `:wq!` every single time instead. I'm not one of those who is afraid of typing more than a single character so I don't care if it's actually 3 I'm hitting. I am someone whose entire brain comes to an absolute crash if I type "wq" and it's asking me if I want to save over a RO file. It's like having a belt loop or pocket catch on a door handle and I despise it.

So, `:wq!`, or as I call it "write the fucking file and quit, _with feeling_"

The only reason the footgun is there is because vim put it there. Seems reasonable to me to be frustrated by that.

Then upgrade to nvim like everybody else idk

Some people value stability and gvim. I don't consider nvim an upgrade, it's just a fork with different priorities which may or may not suit you. I continue to use vim and gvim.

The one gripe I gave with neovim is the stability.