if you run /bin/mail and issue a ~v from within edit mode it gives the following errors: /usr/bin/vi: No such file or directory Fatal error in process. This is because vi is at /bin/vi.
/usr/bin/vi is actually a link to vim on a 6.0 system, so this is why the path is set like that. You can change VISUAL parameter to specify a different path for the editor.
actually, on my new 6.0 system, with all errata installed, there is no link at /usr/bin/vi. i have the following vim packages installed: vim-common-5.3-7 vim-minimal-5.3-7 neither put anything at /usr/bin/vi i understand how the VISUAL variable works, but I think the default behavior should not be broken. so it should either be the case that vim is reconfigured to have the correct path hardcoded, or the link that you think exists should really exist. unless I'm missing something? which package owns the link at /usr/bin/vi on your system? perhaps I don't have that package installed.
Actually, it's not a link at all. There are three different vi executables depending on feature set. The vim-enhanced package contains /usr/bin/vi.