VIM - VI IMPROVED

WHY NOT USE STANDARD VI?

There are a number of reasons why to prefer vim over vi:

1. Works under Unix, Amiga, MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, Atari MiNT
2. Multi level undo
3. Multiple windows and buffers
4. The arrow keys work in insert mode
5. Visual mode (work on highlighted regions)
6. Visual block mode (rectangular regions, too!)
7. Extensive hypertext online help system
8. Command line editing and history
9. Command line completion
10. Horizontal scrolling is possible, too
11. Text formatting
12. "Quickfix" mode to speed up edit-compile-edit cycle
13. Improved indenting for C programs (highly customizable)
14. Word completion in insert mode, even from included files
15. Automatic commands: execute commands based on the file name
16. GUI version
17. Macro recording (with "q")
18. VIM is free!
19. Still being improved, and the author is open to suggestions
20. Can be lobotomized to be 99% vi bug-compatible

WHY NOT USE EMACS?

Are you kidding? ;-)

HOW COMPARES VIM TO OTHER VI CLONES?

Favorably ;-)

Well, if you really want to know: Sven did a comprehensive comparison with different vi clones. You asked for it, you got it.

WHERE CAN I ASK VIM QUESTIONS?

Either on comp.editors or on the VIM mailing list. Please note that you must subscribe to the VIM mailing list before you can submit something there. Subscribe by sending a mail with "subscribe vim" in the body to majordomo@prz.tu-berlin.de.

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT VIM?

Go read the VIM FAQ. In VIM, type ":help". You will be amazed at the wealth of documentation available.

Sven Guckes has compiled tons of material on his VIM pages.

HOW DO I SETUP MY .VIMRC?

Here, have a look at my .vimrc. I added comments liberally. Be sure to download it and not cut-and-paste, because the file contains control characters that you will lose with cut-and-paste.

BTW: The weed2.awk script is available via the WWW, too. You will need a ~/.weedrc like this one, too. It contains the headers you want to keep.

WHERE CAN I DOWNLOAD VIM?

1. ftp://ftp.oce.nl/pub/misc/vim
2. ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pub/misc/editors/vim
3. ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/utilities/vim
4. ftp://jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/unix/vim
5. ftp://nuxi.cs.ucdavis.edu/pub/vim
6. ftp://petrified.cic.net/mirrors/vim
7. Ask Archie

This page was created by Felix von Leitner: leitner@math.fu-berlin.de