| README.txt for version 7.1b of Vim: Vi IMproved. |
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| WHAT IS VIM |
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| Vim is an almost compatible version of the 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, etc. |
| There is also a Graphical User Interface (GUI) available. 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 ASCII 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 |
| defined by the user, and the mouse can be used. |
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| Vim currently runs under Amiga DOS, MS-DOS, MS-Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP, |
| Atari MiNT, Macintosh, BeOS, VMS, RISC OS, OS/2 and almost all flavours of |
| UNIX. Porting to other systems should not be very difficult. |
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| DISTRIBUTION |
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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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| DOCUMENTATION |
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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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| The vim tutor is a one hour training course for beginners. Mostly it can be |
| started as "vimtutor". See ":help tutor" for more information. |
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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 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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| 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: |
| README_ami.txt Amiga |
| README_unix.txt Unix |
| README_dos.txt MS-DOS and MS-Windows |
| README_os2.txt OS/2 |
| README_mac.txt Macintosh |
| README_vms.txt VMS |
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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 FAQ: |
| http://vimdoc.sf.net/vimfaq.html |
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| Send bug reports to: |
| Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org> |
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| There are five mailing lists for Vim: |
| <vim@vim.org> |
| For discussions about using existing versions of Vim: Useful mappings, |
| questions, answers, where to get a specific version, etc. |
| <vim-dev@vim.org> |
| For discussions about changing Vim: New features, porting, beta-test |
| versions, etc. |
| <vim-announce@vim.org> |
| Announcements about new versions of Vim; also beta-test versions and |
| ports to different systems. |
| <vim-multibyte@vim.org> |
| For discussions about using and improving the multi-byte aspects of |
| Vim: XIM, Hangul, fontset, etc. |
| <vim-mac@vim.org> |
| For discussions about using and improving Vim on the Macintosh. |
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| For more info and URLs of the archives see "http://www.vim.org/maillist.php". |
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| NOTE: |
| - You can only send messages to these lists if you have subscribed! |
| - You need to send the messages from the same location as where you subscribed |
| from (to avoid spam mail). |
| - Maximum message size is 40000 characters. |
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| If you want to join a maillist, send a message to |
| <vim-help@vim.org> |
| Make sure that your "From:" address is correct. Then the list server will |
| send you a help message. |
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| MAIN AUTHOR |
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| Send any other comments, patches, pizza and suggestions to: |
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| Bram Moolenaar E-mail: Bram@vim.org |
| Molenstraat 2 |
| 2161 HP Lisse |
| The Netherlands |
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| This is the address of my parents, they will forward mail and eat the pizza. |
| My actual address will change a couple of times in 2006. |