Editors

This chapter is referenced in the LFS book for those wishing to use other editors on their LFS system. You're also shown how some LFS installed programs benefit from being recompiled after GUI libraries have been installed.

Vim-6.3

Introduction to Vim

The Vim package, which is an abbreviation for VI IMproved, contains a vi clone with extra features as compared to the original vi.

The default LFS instructions install vim as a part of the base system. If you would prefer to link vim against X, you should recompile vim to enable GUI mode. There is no need for special instructions since X support is automatically detected.

Package information

Vim dependencies

Recommended

X (XFree86-4.4.0 or X.org-6.8.2)

Installation of Vim

[Note]

Note

If you recompile vim to link against X, and your X libs are not on the root partition, you will no longer have an editor for use in emergencies. You may choose to install an additional editor, not link vim against X, or move the current vim executable to the /bin directory under a different name such as vi.

If desired, unpack the translated messages archive:

tar -zxf ../vim-6.3-lang.tar.gz --strip-path=1

Install Vim by running the following commands:

echo '#define SYS_VIMRC_FILE "/etc/vimrc"' >> src/feature.h &&
echo '#define SYS_GVIMRC_FILE "/etc/gvimrc"' >> src/feature.h &&
patch -Np1 -i ../vim-6.3-security_fix-1.patch &&
./configure --prefix=/usr --with-features=huge &&
make

Now, as the root user:

make install

Command explanations

--with-features=huge: This switch enables all the additional features available in Vim.

--enable-gui=no: If you prefer not to link Vim against X, use this switch.

Contents

A list of the reinstalled files, along with their short descriptions can be found at ../../../../lfs/view/6.0/chapter06/vim.html#contents-vim.

Installed Programs: gview, gvim, gvimdiff, rgview, rgvim
Installed Libraries: None
Installed Directory: /usr/share/vim

Short Descriptions

gview

starts gvim in read-only mode.

gvim

is the editor that runs under X and includes a GUI

gvimdiff

edits two or three versions of a file with gvim and show differences.

rgview

is a restricted version of gview.

rgvim

is a restricted version of gvim.