Let's gossip about Vim - #9
R.I.P. Bram Moleenaar, thank you for Vim and everything around it!
I have never wanted to make money with Vim. She started as a hobby and most of the time she had a job that paid pretty well. Except for a few years during which I asked for donations. Still, quite a few people said they thought Vim was worth something and that other editors were being sold. So I decided to combine my desire to help poor children with that and Charityware was born. It works well, about 30.000 euros a year are raised this way, which is helping about 50 children to finish their education, from primary school to university. Donations come from a few large sponsors and many small donations.
This was Bram Moleenaar, creator of Vim. He passed away at the beginning of August, and this issue is about him, about Vim and text editors.
Vim, short for "Vi Improved," is a famous text editor. It originates from its predecessor, Vi, which was developed by Bill Joy in the early days of computing. Vi, standing for "Visual" editor, introduced a modal editing approach that allowed users to navigate and manipulate texts using keyboard commands, rather than relying on a mouse.
Bram Moolenaar, inspired by the Vi concept, took its foundation and created Vim in 1991. Vim retained Vi's modal nature, where different modes serve distinct purposes, enabling users to perform various tasks efficiently. However, Vim introduced modern enhancements and modular design principles. This modular architecture facilitated extensibility through plugins and customization, leading to the emergence of Vimscript, a scripting language for automating tasks and extending Vim's capabilities.
Read more about:
Welcome back friends! Let’s dive in.
Something to read
Vim (but also Vi) is the classic tool that I force myself to study, understand and use every few months; it’s practically indispensable when you only have the console, but need to edit a file.
If Vim is something relatively new for you, this article (Linux basics: A beginner's guide to text editing with vim) is a good starting point: it is a great introduction to Vim for beginners. The article covers the basics of Vim, such as how to open a file, move around the text, edit the text, and save the file. It also covers some of the more advanced features of Vim, such as syntax highlighting and code folding.
The article explains the Vim interface and its different modes. It also provides some helpful tips for beginners, such as using the Vimtutor to learn the basics of Vim.
Read it here: Linux basics: A beginner's guide to text editing with vim
Interested in learning much more about Vim? Here is some more very useful links - videos and articles:
Vimcast - screencasts and articles to learn vim
Another Vim Tutorial - A tutorial and primer that teaches Vim as language instead of commands
Something to read, 2
You may know Vs-Code very well; well, Google forked it and here I present its new Vs-Code version: Project IDX.
Project IDX is built on top of Visual Studio Code (VS Code), and it employs Google's AI technology to provide features like smart code completion, a chatbot assistant, and contextual code recommendations.
Project IDX is still under development, but it has the potential to be a major productivity boost for developers. The smart code completion feature can save developers a lot of time by suggesting code snippets that they can use to complete their code. The chatbot assistant can answer coding questions and help developers to debug their code. And the contextual code recommendations can assist in finding the most appropriate code for the task at hand.
It is a browser-based development experience that is built on Google Cloud and powered by Codey, a foundational AI model trained on code and built on PaLM 2. It is designed to make it easier to build, manage and deploy full-stack web and multiplatform applications, with popular frameworks and languages.
We just have to wait until we have a beta version to try out. Also considering that Google will use this new tool to gather all possible information to improve its models and forecasts.
Here is the google announcement.
Something to read, 3
Here I would like to mention a less known(?) code editor - my first love actually: Sublime Text.
SublimeText is one of the best text editors I have ever tried: fast, easy to use, customizable. It is proprietary, not open source neither free to use, but it is worth it and it is cross-platform. With this tool you can open a 300mb text file in less than a second.
You can use it for free for an unlimited period of time. After 30 days, Sublime Text will nag you to purchase a license.
Give it a try: https://www.sublimetext.com/
Something to try
Let’s speak again about vim: with this site you can learn and try Vim without even installing it: OpenVim.
OpenVim is a web-based tutorial that allows people to get a taste of what Vim is like. Vim can be difficult to learn at first. OpenVim aims to make Vim more accessible to beginners by providing a tutorial that is interactive and easy to follow.
OpenVim is based on a custom engine that interprets Vim commands. This engine is able to run directly on the DOM, which means that it does not need to be installed on the user's computer. This makes OpenVim very accessible, as it can be used on any device with a web browser.
Try it here: OpenVim and it is also opensource, here you can view the code.
Something to… bonus!
In the last issue we talked about electric cars and their sustainability - today we are going to talk about electric bikes, which have recently undergone a major uptake, read the article here: Electric bikes are the most climate-friendly way to travel
Electric bikes (e-bikes) seem the most climate-friendly way to travel. Zero emissions, less energy required to operate, and they are more efficient than cars, buses, and motorcycles.
Like all bikes, they help to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and promote public health. E-bikes are becoming more affordable and accessible, making them a more viable option for people who want to reduce their carbon footprint. Do you have one?!
Electric bikes are the most climate-friendly way to travel
Something to… bonus 2!
The next bonus resource is something that has nothing to do with technology, but when I read it I thought that it should be of collective interest.
We should all do what we can for our health and to prevent illnesses when possible.
Image: Fran Pulido/The Guardian
The article I link here discusses the science behind dementia and four very practical things you can do to prevent it. The article cites several studies that have shown that certain lifestyle choices can reduce the risk of developing dementia; and something is not really so obvious: like dental hygiene.
Please read this article, do it for your (aged) self - Don’t forget to floss: the science behind dementia and the four things you should do to prevent it
In this issue, we have explored a variety of topics, from the history of Vim and its creator, to the benefits of electric bikes and dementia prevention. I hope you have found this issue informative and interesting.
The topics of the next issues are ready and will be more 'computer-related'; but I thought the topics touched upon today were still very interesting for everyone - and it always seems to me that an interesting thing not shared is a big waste.
Take care, have fun and remember to breathe.
Ciao!
David