1README.txt for version 7.3 of Vim: Vi IMproved. 2 3 4WHAT IS VIM 5 6Vim is an almost compatible version of the UNIX editor Vi. Many new features 7have been added: multi-level undo, syntax highlighting, command line history, 8on-line help, spell checking, filename completion, block operations, etc. 9There is also a Graphical User Interface (GUI) available. See 10"runtime/doc/vi_diff.txt" for differences with Vi. 11 12This editor is very useful for editing programs and other plain text files. 13All commands are given with normal keyboard characters, so those who can type 14with ten fingers can work very fast. Additionally, function keys can be 15defined by the user, and the mouse can be used. 16 17Vim runs under Amiga DOS, MS-DOS, MS-Windows (95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 187), Atari MiNT, Macintosh, BeOS, VMS, RISC OS, OS/2 and almost all flavours of 19UNIX. Porting to other systems should not be very difficult. 20 21 22DISTRIBUTION 23 24There are separate distributions for Unix, PC, Amiga and some other systems. 25This README.txt file comes with the runtime archive. It includes the 26documentation, syntax files and other files that are used at runtime. To run 27Vim you must get either one of the binary archives or a source archive. 28Which one you need depends on the system you want to run it on and whether you 29want or must compile it yourself. Check "http://www.vim.org/download.php" for 30an overview of currently available distributions. 31 32 33DOCUMENTATION 34 35The vim tutor is a one hour training course for beginners. Mostly it can be 36started as "vimtutor". See ":help tutor" for more information. 37 38The best is to use ":help" in Vim. If you don't have an executable yet, read 39"runtime/doc/help.txt". It contains pointers to the other documentation 40files. The User Manual reads like a book and is recommended to learn to use 41Vim. See ":help user-manual". 42 43 44COPYING 45 46Vim is Charityware. You can use and copy it as much as you like, but you are 47encouraged to make a donation to help orphans in Uganda. Please read the file 48"runtime/doc/uganda.txt" for details (do ":help uganda" inside Vim). 49 50Summary of the license: There are no restrictions on using or distributing an 51unmodified copy of Vim. Parts of Vim may also be distributed, but the license 52text must always be included. For modified versions a few restrictions apply. 53The license is GPL compatible, you may compile Vim with GPL libraries and 54distribute it. 55 56 57SPONSORING 58 59Fixing bugs and adding new features takes a lot of time and effort. To show 60your appreciation for the work and motivate Bram and others to continue 61working on Vim please send a donation. 62 63Since Bram is back to a paid job the money will now be used to help children 64in Uganda. See runtime/doc/uganda.txt. But at the same time donations 65increase Bram's motivation to keep working on Vim! 66 67For the most recent information about sponsoring look on the Vim web site: 68 69 http://www.vim.org/sponsor/ 70 71 72COMPILING 73 74If you obtained a binary distribution you don't need to compile Vim. If you 75obtained a source distribution, all the stuff for compiling Vim is in the 76"src" directory. See src/INSTALL for instructions. 77 78 79INSTALLATION 80 81See one of these files for system-specific instructions: 82README_ami.txt Amiga 83README_unix.txt Unix 84README_dos.txt MS-DOS and MS-Windows 85README_os2.txt OS/2 86README_mac.txt Macintosh 87README_vms.txt VMS 88 89There are more README_*.txt files, depending on the distribution you used. 90 91 92INFORMATION 93 94The latest news about Vim can be found on the Vim home page: 95 http://www.vim.org/ 96 97If you have problems, have a look at the Vim FAQ: 98 http://vimdoc.sf.net/vimfaq.html 99 100Send bug reports to: 101 Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org> 102 103There are several mailing lists for Vim, see http://www.vim.org/maillist.php. 104 105 106MAIN AUTHOR 107 108Send any other comments, patches, flowers and suggestions to: 109 110 Bram Moolenaar E-mail: Bram@vim.org 111 Finsterruetihof 1 112 8134 Adliswil 113 Switzerland 114