1 2 3[](https://travis-ci.org/vim/vim) 4[](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/chrisbra/vim) 5[](https://codecov.io/gh/vim/vim?branch=master) 6[](https://scan.coverity.com/projects/vim) 7[](https://lgtm.com/projects/g/vim/vim/context:cpp) 8[](https://buildd.debian.org/vim) 9[](https://repology.org/metapackage/vim) 10 11 12## What is Vim? ## 13 14Vim is a greatly improved version of the good old UNIX editor Vi. Many new 15features have been added: multi-level undo, syntax highlighting, command line 16history, on-line help, spell checking, filename completion, block operations, 17script language, etc. There is also a Graphical User Interface (GUI) 18available. Still, Vi compatibility is maintained, those who have Vi "in the 19fingers" will feel at home. See `runtime/doc/vi_diff.txt` for differences with 20Vi. 21 22This editor is very useful for editing programs and other plain text files. 23All commands are given with normal keyboard characters, so those who can type 24with ten fingers can work very fast. Additionally, function keys can be 25mapped to commands by the user, and the mouse can be used. 26 27Vim runs under MS-Windows (NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10), Macintosh, VMS and 28almost all flavours of UNIX. Porting to other systems should not be very 29difficult. Older versions of Vim run on MS-DOS, MS-Windows 95/98/Me, Amiga 30DOS, Atari MiNT, BeOS, RISC OS and OS/2. These are no longer maintained. 31 32 33## Distribution ## 34 35You can often use your favorite package manager to install Vim. On Mac and 36Linux a small version of Vim is pre-installed, you still need to install Vim 37if you want more features. 38 39There are separate distributions for Unix, PC, Amiga and some other systems. 40This `README.md` file comes with the runtime archive. It includes the 41documentation, syntax files and other files that are used at runtime. To run 42Vim you must get either one of the binary archives or a source archive. 43Which one you need depends on the system you want to run it on and whether you 44want or must compile it yourself. Check http://www.vim.org/download.php for 45an overview of currently available distributions. 46 47Some popular places to get the latest Vim: 48* Check out the git repository from [github](https://github.com/vim/vim). 49* Get the source code as an [archive](https://github.com/vim/vim/releases). 50* Get a Windows executable from the 51[vim-win32-installer](https://github.com/vim/vim-win32-installer/releases) repository. 52 53 54 55## Compiling ## 56 57If you obtained a binary distribution you don't need to compile Vim. If you 58obtained a source distribution, all the stuff for compiling Vim is in the 59`src` directory. See `src/INSTALL` for instructions. 60 61 62## Installation ## 63 64See one of these files for system-specific instructions. Either in the 65READMEdir directory (in the repository) or the top directory (if you unpack an 66archive): 67 68 README_ami.txt Amiga 69 README_unix.txt Unix 70 README_dos.txt MS-DOS and MS-Windows 71 README_mac.txt Macintosh 72 README_vms.txt VMS 73 74There are other `README_*.txt` files, depending on the distribution you used. 75 76 77## Documentation ## 78 79The Vim tutor is a one hour training course for beginners. Often it can be 80started as `vimtutor`. See `:help tutor` for more information. 81 82The best is to use `:help` in Vim. If you don't have an executable yet, read 83`runtime/doc/help.txt`. It contains pointers to the other documentation 84files. The User Manual reads like a book and is recommended to learn to use 85Vim. See `:help user-manual`. 86 87 88## Copying ## 89 90Vim is Charityware. You can use and copy it as much as you like, but you are 91encouraged to make a donation to help orphans in Uganda. Please read the file 92`runtime/doc/uganda.txt` for details (do `:help uganda` inside Vim). 93 94Summary of the license: There are no restrictions on using or distributing an 95unmodified copy of Vim. Parts of Vim may also be distributed, but the license 96text must always be included. For modified versions a few restrictions apply. 97The license is GPL compatible, you may compile Vim with GPL libraries and 98distribute it. 99 100 101## Sponsoring ## 102 103Fixing bugs and adding new features takes a lot of time and effort. To show 104your appreciation for the work and motivate Bram and others to continue 105working on Vim please send a donation. 106 107Since Bram is back to a paid job the money will now be used to help children 108in Uganda. See `runtime/doc/uganda.txt`. But at the same time donations 109increase Bram's motivation to keep working on Vim! 110 111For the most recent information about sponsoring look on the Vim web site: 112 http://www.vim.org/sponsor/ 113 114 115## Contributing ## 116 117If you would like to help making Vim better, see the [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/vim/vim/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md) file. 118 119 120## Information ## 121 122The latest news about Vim can be found on the Vim home page: 123 http://www.vim.org/ 124 125If you have problems, have a look at the Vim documentation or tips: 126 http://www.vim.org/docs.php 127 http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Vim_Tips_Wiki 128 129If you still have problems or any other questions, use one of the mailing 130lists to discuss them with Vim users and developers: 131 http://www.vim.org/maillist.php 132 133If nothing else works, report bugs directly: 134 Bram Moolenaar <[email protected]> 135 136 137## Main author ## 138 139Send any other comments, patches, flowers and suggestions to: 140 Bram Moolenaar <[email protected]> 141 142 143This is `README.md` for version 8.1 of Vim: Vi IMproved. 144
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