| README.txt for version 7.4 of Vim: Vi IMproved. |
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| WHAT IS VIM? |
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| Vim is a greatly improved version of the good old UNIX editor Vi. Many new |
| features have been added: multi-level undo, syntax highlighting, command line |
| history, on-line help, spell checking, filename completion, block operations, |
| script language, etc. There is also a Graphical User Interface (GUI) |
| available. Still, Vi compatibility is maintained, those who have Vi "in the |
| fingers" will feel at home. See "runtime/doc/vi_diff.txt" for differences with |
| Vi. |
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| This editor is very useful for editing programs and other plain text files. |
| All commands are given with normal keyboard characters, so those who can type |
| with ten fingers can work very fast. Additionally, function keys can be |
| mapped to commands by the user, and the mouse can be used. |
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| Vim runs under MS-Windows (NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10), Macintosh, VMS and |
| almost all flavours of UNIX. Porting to other systems should not be very |
| difficult. Older versions of Vim run on MS-DOS, MS-Windows 95/98/Me, Amiga |
| DOS, Atari MiNT, BeOS, RISC OS and OS/2. These are no longer maintained. |
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| DISTRIBUTION |
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| You can often use your favorite package manager to install Vim. On Mac and |
| Linux a small version of Vim is pre-installed, you still need to install Vim |
| if you want more features. |
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| There are separate distributions for Unix, PC, Amiga and some other systems. |
| This README.txt file comes with the runtime archive. It includes the |
| documentation, syntax files and other files that are used at runtime. To run |
| Vim you must get either one of the binary archives or a source archive. |
| Which one you need depends on the system you want to run it on and whether you |
| want or must compile it yourself. Check "http://www.vim.org/download.php" for |
| an overview of currently available distributions. |
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| Some popular places to get the latest Vim: |
| * Check out the git repository from github: https://github.com/vim/vim. |
| * Get the source code as an archive: https://github.com/vim/vim/releases. |
| * Get a Windows executable from the vim-win32-installer repository: |
| https://github.com/vim/vim-win32-installer/releases. |
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| COMPILING |
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| If you obtained a binary distribution you don't need to compile Vim. If you |
| obtained a source distribution, all the stuff for compiling Vim is in the |
| "src" directory. See src/INSTALL for instructions. |
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| INSTALLATION |
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| See one of these files for system-specific instructions. Either in the |
| READMEdir directory (in the repository) or the top directory (if you unpack an |
| archive): |
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| README_ami.txt Amiga |
| README_unix.txt Unix |
| README_dos.txt MS-DOS and MS-Windows |
| README_mac.txt Macintosh |
| README_vms.txt VMS |
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| There are more README_*.txt files, depending on the distribution you used. |
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| DOCUMENTATION |
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| The Vim tutor is a one hour training course for beginners. Often it can be |
| started as "vimtutor". See ":help tutor" for more information. |
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| The best is to use ":help" in Vim. If you don't have an executable yet, read |
| "runtime/doc/help.txt". It contains pointers to the other documentation |
| files. The User Manual reads like a book and is recommended to learn to use |
| Vim. See ":help user-manual". |
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| COPYING |
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| Vim is Charityware. You can use and copy it as much as you like, but you are |
| encouraged to make a donation to help orphans in Uganda. Please read the file |
| "runtime/doc/uganda.txt" for details (do ":help uganda" inside Vim). |
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| Summary of the license: There are no restrictions on using or distributing an |
| unmodified copy of Vim. Parts of Vim may also be distributed, but the license |
| text must always be included. For modified versions a few restrictions apply. |
| The license is GPL compatible, you may compile Vim with GPL libraries and |
| distribute it. |
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| SPONSORING |
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| Fixing bugs and adding new features takes a lot of time and effort. To show |
| your appreciation for the work and motivate Bram and others to continue |
| working on Vim please send a donation. |
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| Since Bram is back to a paid job the money will now be used to help children |
| in Uganda. See runtime/doc/uganda.txt. But at the same time donations |
| increase Bram's motivation to keep working on Vim! |
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| For the most recent information about sponsoring look on the Vim web site: |
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| http://www.vim.org/sponsor/ |
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| CONTRIBUTING |
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| If you would like to help making Vim better, see the CONTRIBUTING.md file. |
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| INFORMATION |
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| The latest news about Vim can be found on the Vim home page: |
| http://www.vim.org/ |
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| If you have problems, have a look at the Vim documentation or tips: |
| http://www.vim.org/docs.php |
| http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Vim_Tips_Wiki |
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| If you still have problems or any other questions, use one of the mailing |
| lists to discuss them with Vim users and developers: |
| http://www.vim.org/maillist.php |
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| If nothing else works, report bugs directly: |
| Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org> |
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| MAIN AUTHOR |
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| Send any other comments, patches, flowers and suggestions to: |
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| Bram Moolenaar E-mail: Bram@vim.org |