Bram Moolenaar, the creator of the widely respected Vim code editor, has passed away at the age of 62. The family announced his passing in a heartfelt Google Groups message on August 5, revealing a sudden progression of a medical condition that had afflicted him.

  • @[email protected]
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    12510 months ago

    Calling it a code editor is like calling my car a “work transport vehicle”

    Vim is an all purpose text-editing machine and although it has some definite quirks it solves problems. If you’ve used original vi you’ll know just how much more amazing vim is without changing the core concepts.

    Much love to Bram, you made the world a better place ❤️

    • @MCForTheBest
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      910 months ago

      Vim is just way better than Vi if I have to use it to actually change more than a few characters in a text file/config.

      It’s probably just me but with Vi I struggle with inputting any text because I’m used to using the arrow keys to navigate. It keeps putting a ‘B’, in particular, and newlines whenever I want to navigate text.

      • vortic
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        310 months ago

        I used to use arrow keys with VIM, but found that using hjkl worked better in some circumstances. Especially when writing reusable macros. It also avoids the need to move your fingers away from the main keys, making you faster.

        I highly recommend getting use to using hjkl rather than the arrow keys.

        • @[email protected]
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          410 months ago

          Some cases? hjkl is such a euphoric way to move around that all my keyboards have the arrow keys mapped to those letters under a layer. Truly a game changer.

  • Don Corleone
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    9510 months ago

    Man, I’m sad 😔.

    I knew him personally (we worked for the same company at a point in time, although very different departments). I’m also a heavy vim user.

    We once were in the same meeting where the unsuspecting meeting chair was taking nodes in emacs org-mode. Most of other meeting members were not geeks, so nobody knew who Bram was. I said “Bram, look at this, they’re taking notes in emacs just to piss you off”, to which he responded “yeah, and it is horrible…” 😁

    Farewell and :wq

    • @kicksystem
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      410 months ago

      What was your impression of him?

    • Don Corleone
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      310 months ago

      Unfortunately, I only had limited interactions with him. I was the lead on a project that needed a few things from his team, and we had a number of meetings due to that.

      From my limited contact, he seemed like a chill guy. Never made any unreasonable assumptions and had a technical view on how to solve problems.

    • @kersk
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      710 months ago

      He seemed very passionate about this cause and it would be a wonderful way to honor him if you’ve enjoyed using vim. I donated a few dollars a few years back and he wrote me a personal thank you email, which was unexpected. Sad to hear this news. :(

  • @[email protected]
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    2810 months ago

    I am a young developer, NeoVim is my choice for every type of text editing. Vim is an amazing tool on par with many of the greatest software products in existence.

    This man’s legacy will be honored. :wq

  • @[email protected]
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    2510 months ago

    :wq Thanks Bram for a great editor! Vim is probably one of the most useful pieces of software ever written. I know that I use it literally every day.

  • @madsen
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    2510 months ago

    For those that want to pay tribute to Bram, I suggest donating to ICCF, which is the charity that has also been mentioned in Vim’s splash screen since the very beginning (see also: :help iccf in Vim/Neovim). I’m kinda embarrassed that I never got around to it before — I’ve been using Vim/Neovim for more than two decades!

  • @dinckelman
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    1910 months ago

    :wq

    The contributions will not be forgotten

  • @droidpenguin
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    1810 months ago

    I use Vim everyday! I’m so glad I took the time to learn it as it has increased my productivity significantly and now I can’t imagine not using it. Thanks Bram, for your amazing work over the years. RIP

  • @sep
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    1310 months ago

    been using vim daily for 22 years. condolences to the family. :wq

  • @DocMcStuffin
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    1310 months ago

    Everyone’s giving tribute with :wq!, but don’t forget about :x! and ZZ.

  • Jo Miran
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    1210 months ago

    I started my UNIX/Linux life on Vi and never stopped using it as my preferred editor. Vim was a great and somehow near invisible upgrade. This is truly a great loss but he has left a huge and lasting impact on the world of computing.

    :wq

  • El Barto
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    1210 months ago

    :wq!

    One of the few pieces of software I’m proud of having learned - and use!

  • Yuumi
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    1110 months ago

    :wq!

    much love to Bram, I’ve tried vi and instantly felt how much vim helped, a toast to a great mind 🥂