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# Installing Vim

## Installation of Vim

If a user doesn't like vim to be installed as an editor on the LFS system, he may want to download an alternative and install an editor he prefers. There are a few hints how to install different editors available at http://cvs.linuxfromscratch.org/index.cgi/hints/editors/

Both the vim-rt and vim-src packages need to be unpacked to install Vim. Both packages will unpack their files into the vim-5.7 directory. This won't overwrite any files from the other package. So it doesn't matter in which order it is done. Install Vim by running the following commands:

> `./configure --prefix=/usr &&`
> `make &&`
> `make install &&`
> `cd /usr/bin &&`
> `ln -s vim vi`

If a user plans on installing the X Window system on his LFS system, he might want to re-compile Vim after he has installed X. Vim comes with a nice GUI version of the editor which requires X and a few other libraries to be installed. For more information read the Vim documentation.

## Contents

The Vim package contains the ctags, etags, ex, gview, gvim, rgview, rgvim, rview, rvim, view, vim, vimtutor and xxd programs.

## Description

### ctags

ctags generate tag files for source code.

### etags

etags does the same as ctags but it can generate cross reference files which list information about the various source objects found in a set of language files.

### ex

ex starts vim in Ex mode.

### gview

gview is the GUI version of view.

### gvim

gvim is the GUI version of vim.

### rgview

rgview is the GUI version of rview.

### rgvim

rgvim is the GUI version of rvim.

### rview

rview is a restricted version of view. No shell commands can be started and Vim can't be suspended.

### rvim

rvim is the restricted version of vim. No shell commands can be started and Vim can't be suspended.

### view

view starts vim in read-only mode.

### vim

vim starts vim in the normal, default way.

### vimtutor

vimtutor starts the Vim tutor.

### xxd

xxd makes a hexdump or does the reverse.

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