558
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 93 points 1 month ago

I don't know why there's so much hate for Vim. It's simple- just use it as your default text editor since you first started using computers, and keep using it forever, and problem solved!

[-] TheFogan@programming.dev 66 points 1 month ago

Setup for the overused joke - I've been using vim since I first started using a computer, I just can't quit.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

:set nocompat

Why VIM decided to make itself run just like VI (by default) is beyond me. Isn’t the long name “VI Improved”?

[-] nous@programming.dev 16 points 1 month ago

Vims defaults are quite crap overall. It is why everyone needs 100s of lines of configs and many plugins to turn it into something decent. Well worth the setup but it could go a long way to making things nicer to use out the box.

[-] darklamer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 1 month ago

I switched from vi to vim in 1994 and found it immediately obvious how to quit — it was just like vi!

I guess I'll never understand these memes.

[-] Endmaker@ani.social 35 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Personally, I have seen so many memes about exiting vim that by the time I got to use it for the first time, exiting it was a no-brainer.

For any newbies out there, the command is

:wq
[-] Malix@sopuli.xyz 30 points 1 month ago

Just to add: possible need to tap esc first, as your random flailing probably put you in insert mode, or something more exotic.

And only add w if you want to save the file. :q! If you don't

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

! If you edited the buffer at all. 👍

[-] Malix@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 month ago

With random flailing, most likely

[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

😳

:w = write; or overwrite if the file already exists.

Please don’t give blanket destructive advice.

[-] Gonzako@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

This one's fine. They'll then learn the next vim button, u for undo. I believe it's saved between boots of vim? It may be my kickstarted neovim config tho

[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

I would say not in all installations, no. And honestly, it’s not worth trusting.

And for those who are unfamiliar, and want to set it up: https://blog.openreplay.com/persistent-undo-vim-save-restore-history/

[-] TheFogan@programming.dev 14 points 1 month ago

also worth noting you open vim the first time, you get a huge ass splash screen telling you how to exit

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] elvith@feddit.org 6 points 1 month ago

And if you panicked before and fucked up the opened file while hammering on the keyboard:

:q!
[-] T156@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

:x is also an alternative to save and quit.

Equally valid for the facial expression you'd make upon finding that out.

[-] Badabinski@kbin.earth 5 points 1 month ago

There's also ZZ 👉😎👉 Same caveats apply, smash that fukken esc key (for bonus points rebind caps lock as esc) then ZZ Top your way out of that shit.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Landless2029@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago

I've recently started administering windows headless. PowerShell over SSH.

Don't have this problem on windows server!

It doesn't even have a terminal text editor

I have to install nano or use powershell commands through hoops of fire just to edit a line in a file.

Or download the file via scp, edit and reupload.

Pure Insanity.

[-] vithigar@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 month ago
[-] Kojichan@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Classic DOS editor for text files, batch coding, and QBasic coding. Good times.

[-] Redex68@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Ok that's really cool. It looks like it's really new? Like 3 months old?

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 19 points 1 month ago

Go beyond the lazy memes and see for yourself why it has such a loyal cult!

https://openvim.com/

[-] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 month ago

The loyal cult is the result of Stockholm syndrome.

[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 17 points 1 month ago

Stockholm syndrome came from a bs flawed study so shrugs

[-] QuazarOmega@lemy.lol 14 points 1 month ago

That's exactly what a Stockholm syndrome victim would say!

[-] Shanmugha@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Of course. We just can't quit

[-] lobut@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I use VS Code mainly and I always want to go to the end of a line and beginning. On Mac it's like CTRL+E and CTRL+A respectively. On Windows, I was like, I guess I could do Windows Key and arrows but it felt off. Installing Vim bindings on VS Code just fixed this all for me. I love it.

[edit] for non-VIM users, you can skip words and go-to braces (and delete what's in them) and highlight within quotes very easily ... for function search, the built-in VS Code is really good too. I also have Harpoon installed to hop between files. If it doesn't appeal to you, then that's cool too! Whatever keeps you in there. [/edit]

I've tried setting up my own vim stuff and I always bail out because I can't figure something out. I feel like I need to really sit with it and I'd have the perfect set up for me.

Lastly, I've installed vim for zsh and it's the best. I can hop all around my terminal and highlight and remove things. It's so beautiful.

[-] PrinzKasper@feddit.org 4 points 1 month ago

I use VS Code mainly and I always want to go to the end of a line and beginning.

Soo... The end key and pos1 key?

[-] lobut@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

lol yes I understand I know I sound silly. My home/end aren't typical on my keyboard. It's like function and stuff, which breaks my flow for something I do so often.

[-] KiwiTB@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago
[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I mean I do... with evil/vim bindings!

I love it.

No upvote tho because unnecessary 'tude

[-] kobra@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago

Apologies for the completely random thought but this is the 2nd time in my life I’ve see “‘tude” written down. first time was in the “I can’t remember” song by Alice In Chains, so you’re in good company haha

[-] bss03@infosec.pub 4 points 1 month ago

Honestly, I don't like either programmability approach (vimscript/lua OR emacs-lisp), but I'll probably just stick with neovim, because when I'm on a system without my configuration, I've more productive there, and I don't want to learn enough emacs-lisp "APIs" to reproduce my somewhat small vim configuration.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] whodatdair 10 points 1 month ago

‘vimtutor’ is your friend. Nobody sane uses vim as an IDE, but if you have to ssh to a host to fuck with a config file it’s pretty nice to know because you can guarantee that most distros have at least vi, if not vim.

[-] nous@programming.dev 30 points 1 month ago

Nobody sane uses vim as an IDE

Huh? Many people do this. With the right plugins and config it is just as capable as any IDE.

[-] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 month ago

Many people do this.

Many people are insane.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 9 points 1 month ago

If you're just doing a quick config edit, nano is significantly easier to use and is also present in most distros.

Vi/Vim is useful as a customizable dev environment, but in the present there are better, more feature-rich development tools - unless you are specifically doing a lot of development in a GUI-free system, for some reason.

[-] timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 month ago

I mean, if youre continually updating files on remote take the time to learn vim. My God it's a million times more efficient. Even using the keybindings in an ide makes sense.

That and Im not aware that rhel distros at all have nano built in. Nothing on a random rocky 9 box I randomly sshed into just now.

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Helix crew chiming in. 🙋‍♂️

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] littleomid@feddit.org 4 points 1 month ago

Im completely lost on Nano. Vim is SO much quicker.

[-] protogen420 4 points 1 month ago

vim is more feature rich than nano, nano is easier to use for the first time, after you learn the very basics vim is pretty much just as easy to use and way more feature rich

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] Nachtnebel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago

If using vim makes people insane, then what does using ed makes me?

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago

And if not they have sed or ed or echo and cat.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] andrewth09@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

You have heard of :wq, but have you heard of ZZ

[-] Nachtnebel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 month ago
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] swizzlestick@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago

An old Buffalo NAS box made me learn vi. Because that's all it had.

Yes, this comic speaks to me.

[-] Tillman@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Vim is pretty amazing. Almost everywhere now too.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Stomata@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
558 points (100.0% liked)

Programmer Humor

24937 readers
1237 users here now

Welcome to Programmer Humor!

This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!

For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.

Rules

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS