vim Getting started with vim Installation
Example
The Vim on your machine—if there is one—is very likely to be a "small" build that lacks useful features like clipboard support, syntax highlighting or even the ability to use plugins.
This is not a problem if all you need is a quick way to edit config files but you will soon hit a number of walls if you intend to make Vim your main editor.
It is therefore generally recommended to install a complete build.
Installation on Linux/BSD
On those systems, the trick is simply to install the GUI version which comes with both a gvim command for starting the GUI and a vim command for starting the TUI.
Arch and Arch-based distributions
$ sudo pacman -R vim
$ sudo pacman -S gvim
Debian and Debian-based distributions
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install vim-gtk
Gentoo and Gentoo-based distributions
$ sudo emerge --sync
$ sudo emerge app-editors/gvim
RedHat and RedHat-based distributions
$ sudo yum check-update
$ sudo yum install vim-X11
Fedora
$ sudo dnf check-update
$ sudo dnf install vim-X11
Slackware and Slackware-based distributions
$ sudo slackpkg update
$ sudo slackpkg install-new vim-gvim
OpenBSD and OpenBSD-based distributions
$ sudo pkg_add vim-x11
FreeBSD and FreeBSD-based distributions
$ sudo pkg install editors/vim
Installation on Mac OS X
The strategy is similar to Mac OS X: we install the GUI version to get both the GUI and the TUI. In the end, we should be able to:
- double-click the MacVim icon in the Finder,
- click on the MacVim icon in the Dock,
- issue
$ mvimin the shell to open the MacVim GUI, - issue
$ mvim -vin the shell to open the MacVim TUI.
Regular install
Download and install an official snapshot like you would with any other Mac OS X application.
Place the mvim script that comes bundled with MacVim somewhere in your $PATH.
Package manager
MacPorts:$ sudo port selfupdate
$ sudo port install macvim
$ brew install macvim
To make MacVim the default console Vim:
$ brew install macvim --with-override-system-vim
Installation on Windows
There is no Vim on Windows systems by default. You can download and install Vim from the Tuxproject site for more up-to-date and complete builds or you can download and install Vim from the official Vim site.
Chocolatey
> choco install vim
Building Vim from source
If the methods above don't suit your needs it is still possible to build Vim yourself, with only the options you need.
This topic will be discussed in its own section (currently in draft).
