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Do you use vim? (sh.itjust.works)

Do you use vim as your default text editor? If you do not, have you ever been in a situation you could do nothing but use vim?

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[-] witness_me@lemmy.ml 2 points 30 minutes ago

Yes. I use vim as much as possible. When I don’t use vim, I use its keybindings in Firefox, IntelliJ, VSCode and even in eMacs (spacemacs with evil mode).

[-] bigbangdangler@reddthat.com 8 points 2 hours ago
[-] beeng@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Yes in SSH terminal,

Yes in vscode,

Yes because I use TUIs that use all the same bindings and they're great one you get the vocab.

Yes as Hyprland bindings, k9s, etc etc etc etc

[-] olafurp@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

I use Neovim as much as possible but Jetbrains C# just has a really nice debugging experience (with Vim mode on, of course). I still use Neovim for reading C# and doing some small edits and it works really well when reading what the LLM wrote.

It's hard to beat stepping through a method until you hit an exception, go into a catch block, ctrl+O until you hit the last line before the exception, breakpoint, skip to top of method and rerun.

[-] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 6 hours ago

I've been in a situation where I could do nothing but use vi until I installed vim. Then could only use vim or vi. I've also had to use GVimPortable on Windows because of shitty corporate computers don't have bash or vim (or didn't back in the day.)

It's not hard. Just grab a cheat sheet. There is an Android app cheat sheet for Linux commands with Vim. You'll be fine.

[-] AstroLightz@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

For quick edits in the terminal? Sure.

As my main IDE? No way. I'm too used to GUI IDEs like VSCodium and PyCharm.

I just find it easier to navigate with a mouse. With just keyboard, I find I overshoot the block of code I'm looking for, whereas scroll wheel gives me more control.

[-] olafurp@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

} jump forward to next empty line is really quick for navigating, also if you know the identifier then /myVarnnnn is much faster than scrolling and gets you ready to edit. Otherwise 5j;;;; also works of course.

[-] Colonel_Panic_@eviltoast.org 5 points 8 hours ago

Yes, won't quit, can't quit, seriously, help.

[-] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 4 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Yes. But mostly IdeaVim in JetBrains IDEs though.

For those that haven't yet learned vim: the real power is that the commands can be combined to form a mini-language. Commands can also be recorded in macros and replayed. This is what makes it so awesome. But to really make use of this you have to properly learn it, only knowing i and x isn't enough.

[-] Obin@feddit.org 4 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Also note that modal editing isn't for everyone. I'm happy to learn hotkeys, I even got far enough to build musclememory for vim's normal mode. What never went away though was my confusion about what mode the editor is in. I would constantly input text in normal mode and input commands in insert mode, leading to costly mistakes that tore down any speed advantage vim would have given me. I really tried, but never built muscle memory for this kind of context switching[^1], maybe it's an ADHD thing.

These days I'm on Emacs with an always improving custom command scheme of non-modal but context sensitive commands that do similar things in all major and minor modes.

[^1]: Same situation with tmux which is almost a requirement for the typical vim workflow, and adds another layer of mode switching on top. On Emacs window management is included and so are remote shells/editing, so no need for the tmux<->editor context switch.

[-] olafurp@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

I still sometimes do it randomly because of editor lag in Jetbrains Ideavim, you can just hit u usually until you get back to where you were.

[-] Clutter@sh.itjust.works 8 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

I'm a freelance linux it nerd. I figured I better get used to vim/nvim because every company I visited had different tooling available but their servers ALWAYS had vim.

Now I have a nice .vim setup I can easily copy/paste and work easily and fast. I've become quite adept in the years following that decision.

Plus, as a freelance dude using vim quickly and flying through code bases makes it really seem like I know what I'm doing / hacker type .... I don't. And I'm no hacker..... But the customer is happy soooo :-)

P.s. I'm currently trying out the Zed editor with vim bindings. They are emaculate!

[-] SwooshBakery624@programming.dev 6 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Vim is slop-coded now, unfortunately. I use evil Emacs.

[-] Slashme@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

I guess I should take another look at evil-mode.

[-] dantel@programming.dev 4 points 12 hours ago

Yes I do and to my delight I' ve yet to encounter a situation where I can't use the editor I prefer anyway. Joy.

[-] audaxdreik@pawb.social 2 points 11 hours ago

Nah, I'm another nano guy. You can set up syntax highlighting for it you know?

It's not that any one is better than the other, it's up to your use cases. I've learned vim a few times in my life already (and mostly just know the hjkl bindings from playing tons of terminal roguelikes) but it always decays because I don't put the knowledge to use. Because it just doesn't fit my use case.

I write small scripts, some Python and stuff and I'll usually use PyCharm to debug that these days. So nano is relegated to the small tasks like config editing or quick, in place fixes to scripts.

[-] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 5 points 9 hours ago

It’s not that any one is better than the other, it’s up to your use cases.

This is correct. For example, if the use case is editing a text file, then vim is better.

[-] Dirk@lemmy.ml 10 points 16 hours ago

No, I use Neovim. But this I use 100% of the time.

[-] CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml 52 points 23 hours ago

I've been using Vim for 20 years.

I only opened it once and I haven't been able to close it yet

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[-] juipeltje@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

I started using emacs a while back. Before that i was using helix. If i need to make a quick edit in the tty i still find myself going back to nano. I've never been in a situation where i could only use vim. If i ever am though, i would know my way around.

[-] Slashme@lemmy.world 9 points 10 hours ago

Emacs is a pretty nice OS - all it's lacking is a good text editor.

[-] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 1 points 9 hours ago

Emacs is ok, provided it's in evil mode

[-] juipeltje@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

I started out with evil mode, but got kinda frustrated with it at times because i was coming from helix, which does some things differently from vim. There is a helix-mode package but it's pretty new and could use some polish. So now i'm actually using the native emacs binds. It's not so bad when you use the inside of your pinky knuckle to press control, that way your fingers don't leave the home row.

[-] fozid@feddit.uk 4 points 14 hours ago

I have never been on a machine where I can't install and use nano. I can use vi / vim / nvim, but I don't have muscle memory. I have tried to convert away from nano, but it's just too easy and what I have been used to over nearly 2 decades on Linux. I have nvim installed with a few plugins and a bit of a custom config, but anytime I need to do something important or complex I jump into nano. If I remember and am not in a rush I'll jump into nvim to try and practice.

[-] 00xide@lemmy.ml 6 points 16 hours ago

For much, not for all.

System and user files are pretty close to one another in NixOS, so I use it for both. Sudoedit is set to vim, but I have a kitty and neovim (technically it's nnot nvim, it's nvf so I can config it in Nix instead of Lua) environment that tiles quite nicely and uses nonconflicting keymaps.

I use mod+hjkl for navigating my window manager, too, which has led to an interesting situation. Hyprland just migrated to Lua from Hyprscript, and Neovim uses a lot of Lua for inbuilt commands and stuff, so you'd think I'd be thrilled to write them both in the same language. Instead I just sigh at the greener grass because I already configured them both in Nix.

I do use Obsidian (with Vim binds, and monospace source mode as default for everything except tables) for my markdown viewer / primary notekeeping cloud sync, and Kate for previewing media that needs to be formatted right as a .doc or .pdf.

Some Obsidian notes are handled with Vim, actually. I have a script that sets up a new Zettelkasten note with automatic tags and opens it in Neovim, because I find it faster than Obsidian when I have a single thought and need to write it before it's forgotten. Thanks ADHD. I write Zettelkasten like little scripts of code - unique, atomic, referencing and importing each other, with a unique version history, and Vim's great at that.

[-] mik3dd0@lemmy.ml 4 points 16 hours ago

Damn, that's quite the detailed setup.

[-] 00xide@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 hours ago

Thank you! I believe Vim is a deeply individual and almost emotional experience, and a bit of rambling is always worthwhile to get the perspective of a Vim setup.

[-] mrbn@lemmy.ca 45 points 1 day ago
[-] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 20 points 1 day ago

vim all day

They will take it from my cold dead hands

Save the Ugandan children

[-] Slashme@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

Yes, started using vi when I started using a Unix login at university. That was in about 1994 or so. When I started using Linux it was definitely vim.

I've tried using evil-mode and vim keybindings in other editors. I somehow keep coming back to vim, though.

[-] AHemlocksLie@lemmy.zip 3 points 15 hours ago

I prefer NeoVim, but now I'm trying out Guile Scheme, and the best Lisp support is in Emacs from what I understand, so I'm currently attempting to stop using Vim commands in Emacs.

[-] Defectus@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago
[-] utopiah@lemmy.ml 5 points 17 hours ago

Yes. I also use vim here (in this Web textarea where I'm typing this answer) thanks to Tridactyl.

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[-] notptr@lemmy.cyberia9.org 3 points 15 hours ago

I use to use vim but I discovered org mode so I use emacs.

Recently I been doing programming on plan 9 so I been using acme.

[-] tufek@sopuli.xyz 3 points 12 hours ago

Once your org mode you a in't go anywhere anymore

[-] folaht@lemmy.ml 1 points 12 hours ago

Do you use vim as your default text editor?

Not just text editor, but also IDE via rocks.nvim.
Ever since I wanted to edit some file that had like 2000 lines and I just wanted to quickly go to line 1164.
Nano wasn't cut out for that and I hadn't heard of emacs.
But I use a Typematrix dvorak keyboard, so I had to rearrange all the command.
Now I'm stuck with it.

If you do not, have you ever been in a situation you could do nothing but use vim?

Yeah, whenever I type git commit -m "message goes here"
Also, I wanted to program on a server, so I ssh'd into it and decided that vim was the way to go as an IDE.

[-] Slashme@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

git config --global core.editor "ed"

if you don't like using vim.

[-] agentjsmith@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

ed is the standard Unix text editor!

[-] Zachariah@lemmy.world 17 points 23 hours ago
[-] Gumus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 hours ago
[-] Zachariah@lemmy.world 1 points 35 minutes ago

yes, that’s how unit prefixes work

[-] MimicJar@lemmy.world 5 points 18 hours ago

Yes. I started using it years ago and have been unable to exit ever since.

But honestly related to your question, I started learning to use vim exactly because when I started to learn and use Linux I was often stuck in situations where that was the only thing available.

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this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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