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Neovim is Vim for me and many other users. Vim is irrelevant to me now. The community is rallying behind Neovim and it shows great potential. It just needs to b

Neovim is Vim for me and many other users. Vim is irrelevant to me now. The community is rallying behind Neovim and it shows great potential. It just needs to be bundled by major distros so it can be installed on servers with 1 command and that'll be the end of old Vim. Bram has done a tremendous job with Vim but it's time to move on to the Vim of the future.

vbezhenar 10y ago
Why would it be the end of old vim? I've never used neovim and I don't plan to use it, vim is perfectly fine for me, as it is. I guess, most of vim users don't even know of neovim. Sure, it's good to have a choice.
- hxegon 10y ago
  A lot of other comments make related points that kind of dance around this, but here it is: The major improvements of neovim aren't (directly) user facing. It's a major refactor, which makes it immensely easier to maintain and contribute too. Neovim isn't a vim reinvention, it's a vim renewal.
  - kedean 10y ago
    What I think is interesting here is that Neovim is entirely contrary to the original point of Vim, as presented in the article: a vi available on non-Unix systems. It was portable, so it could be run anywhere. Now Neovim's selling point is that it DOESN'T have all the code that enabled that portability. Not suggesting one way is better or worse, but I think it's interesting.
- elsjaako 10y ago
  For me the major improvement is that it puts the settings in the .config folder. I like this because I keep my settings in a git repo. The main advantage on the other hand is that my friend stopped bothering me about having to switch to neovim, which I guess is a non-issue for most. Now he's trying to get me on to zsh.
  - deong 10y ago
    I've kept pretty much all my settings in a git repository for years -- you don't need the program to explicitly make that easier. $ git clone <<repository_url>> $HOME/config $ ln -sf $HOME/config/vim/vimrc $HOME/.vimrc
- sigzero 10y ago
  It's not the end of vim. I highly doubt NeoVim is going to replace it at all.
mcjiggerlog 10y ago
I've never touched neovim as I'm perfectly happy with vim - what reasons are there for me to consider making the switch? I would guess neovim isn't even on the radar of most vim users. I don't see neovim surpassing vim any time soon, personally.
- libria 10y ago
  Neovim's popularity is more with extension developers. My understanding is that it enables them to develop features rivaling those in IDEs. Vim users won't switch for Neovim itself, but they might if extension writers only target Neovim. I think Neovim also has a pluggable engine, so IDE vim emulators can simply include that portion rather than implementing the functionality per platform.
  - criddell 10y ago
    Can you name a couple of extensions that somebody considering Neovim should look at?
    - fmoralesc 10y ago
      neomake (async execution of tasks like compiling, linting and syntax checking) and deoplete (for async autocompletion).
  - tomku 10y ago
    This was true for a while, but vim 8 (and some of the last patches of vim 7) added async tasks, channels and built-in JSON encoding/decoding. It's a hassle to have to support two different interfaces, but I suspect most plugin authors are going to do that rather than force their users to use neovim. Some plugins (like neomake) already support both. Edit: Forgot to mention, many of the improvements in vim 8 were clearly in reaction to Neovim's innovations. Both projects benefit from the other, this isn't a fight to the death.
- cygned 10y ago
  That got me: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/wiki/FAQ#how-can-i-change-the-cursor-shape-in-the-terminal https://github.com/neovim/neovim/wiki/FAQ#how-can-i-change-t... It feels faster to me, but I haven't compared to vim 8. I don't use any plugins doing work in the background, so that's not the difference here.
ageofwant 10y ago
vim is great, but neovim is better. Of course these days I'm a spacemacs proselyte. On my dev box spacemacs and neovim is used interchangeably. On most servers I just stick with the default distro vim, unless it becomes a remote dev machine. Point is I use all three all the time, and I fully expect to continue doing that until world hunger or me ends.
- weaksauce 10y ago
  Plus 1 for spacemacs. Magit is amazing software and I held out for a long time learning it because I didn't think that it was worth the time. It's so good that it makes you rethink version control. Makes everything so easy... Even the more advanced features.
fs111 10y ago
You must be living in a bubble tbh. I am using vim for 12+ years now and it is perfectly fine.
- owaislone 10y ago
  Vim is fine but Neovim is better and judging from the community involvement, will keep getting better at a much faster rate than Vim.
  - hayd 10y ago
    Vim is stagnant (or was?) which is fine for most users but sucks in the long run. Would vim 8 have async if neovim did not exist? No, because it was fine without it.
throwawa88127 10y ago
I didn't get the memo. This sounds like typical millenial propaganda from a couple of fanboys trying to wrestle control of some software from the original authors.
Sphax 10y ago
From a Windows user point of view neovim is strictly than vim 8 / gvim 8.
- Sphax 10y ago
  Can't edit now but that was meant to be "strictly worse"
- toonse 10y ago
  Yes, this. My primary work environment is Windows. Every attempt to install and successfully use neovim has been far from optimal and sometimes flat out broken. So I go back to gVim.
falcolas 10y ago
Speaking solely as an outsider to the development of Vim, NeoVim, and Vim extensions - the only time I see references to NeoVim anymore is when someone else brings up regular Vim (and always includes the narrow-sighted rant of "vim is obsolete, neovim is the future"). Threads here imply that NeoVim has a lot more traction and capabilities than Vim, yet it might as well not exist for all that we don't hear about it. > that'll be the end of old Vim To be frank, no, it won't. Not so long as Vim is installed by default, and holds the name Vim. NeoVim can't even simply replace Vim as the default, since it works differently (the changed configuration path, for one), and no longer works on all of the platforms that operating systems are installed upon (even if intentionally). Vim just works. Until that is no longer the case, NeoVim will have a hard time gaining traction outside of those who are already waving its flag. That said, I appreciate NeoVim - if for nothing else - for prompting Bram to realize there are more usecases. But I would argue that its time has passed, as bright as that time was.
- ajamesm 10y ago
  Vim never needed async, it Just Wo ESC j j j j jjj ESC rks(TM):q :wq
- anoother 10y ago
  > Not so long as Vim is installed by default, and holds the name Vim. NeoVim can't even simply replace Vim as the default, since it works differently Something about this comment (perhaps the above quote) makes me think that perhaps neovim will be to vim, what vim is to vi...
- elliotec 10y ago
  Neovim is objectively better in numerous ways. I don't need to list them here because a Google search should suffice. It should be said that people who use Neovim often use the word Vim to keep it understandable and not seem annoying.

vbezhenar 10y ago

Why would it be the end of old vim? I've never used neovim and I don't plan to use it, vim is perfectly fine for me, as it is. I guess, most of vim users don't even know of neovim. Sure, it's good to have a choice.

hxegon 10y ago
A lot of other comments make related points that kind of dance around this, but here it is: The major improvements of neovim aren't (directly) user facing. It's a major refactor, which makes it immensely easier to maintain and contribute too. Neovim isn't a vim reinvention, it's a vim renewal.
- kedean 10y ago
  What I think is interesting here is that Neovim is entirely contrary to the original point of Vim, as presented in the article: a vi available on non-Unix systems. It was portable, so it could be run anywhere. Now Neovim's selling point is that it DOESN'T have all the code that enabled that portability. Not suggesting one way is better or worse, but I think it's interesting.
elsjaako 10y ago
For me the major improvement is that it puts the settings in the .config folder. I like this because I keep my settings in a git repo. The main advantage on the other hand is that my friend stopped bothering me about having to switch to neovim, which I guess is a non-issue for most. Now he's trying to get me on to zsh.
- deong 10y ago
  I've kept pretty much all my settings in a git repository for years -- you don't need the program to explicitly make that easier. $ git clone <<repository_url>> $HOME/config $ ln -sf $HOME/config/vim/vimrc $HOME/.vimrc
sigzero 10y ago
It's not the end of vim. I highly doubt NeoVim is going to replace it at all.

mcjiggerlog 10y ago

I've never touched neovim as I'm perfectly happy with vim - what reasons are there for me to consider making the switch? I would guess neovim isn't even on the radar of most vim users. I don't see neovim surpassing vim any time soon, personally.

libria 10y ago
Neovim's popularity is more with extension developers. My understanding is that it enables them to develop features rivaling those in IDEs. Vim users won't switch for Neovim itself, but they might if extension writers only target Neovim. I think Neovim also has a pluggable engine, so IDE vim emulators can simply include that portion rather than implementing the functionality per platform.
- criddell 10y ago
  Can you name a couple of extensions that somebody considering Neovim should look at?
  - fmoralesc 10y ago
    neomake (async execution of tasks like compiling, linting and syntax checking) and deoplete (for async autocompletion).
- tomku 10y ago
  This was true for a while, but vim 8 (and some of the last patches of vim 7) added async tasks, channels and built-in JSON encoding/decoding. It's a hassle to have to support two different interfaces, but I suspect most plugin authors are going to do that rather than force their users to use neovim. Some plugins (like neomake) already support both. Edit: Forgot to mention, many of the improvements in vim 8 were clearly in reaction to Neovim's innovations. Both projects benefit from the other, this isn't a fight to the death.
cygned 10y ago
That got me: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/wiki/FAQ#how-can-i-change-the-cursor-shape-in-the-terminal https://github.com/neovim/neovim/wiki/FAQ#how-can-i-change-t... It feels faster to me, but I haven't compared to vim 8. I don't use any plugins doing work in the background, so that's not the difference here.

ageofwant 10y ago

vim is great, but neovim is better. Of course these days I'm a spacemacs proselyte. On my dev box spacemacs and neovim is used interchangeably. On most servers I just stick with the default distro vim, unless it becomes a remote dev machine. Point is I use all three all the time, and I fully expect to continue doing that until world hunger or me ends.

weaksauce 10y ago
Plus 1 for spacemacs. Magit is amazing software and I held out for a long time learning it because I didn't think that it was worth the time. It's so good that it makes you rethink version control. Makes everything so easy... Even the more advanced features.

fs111 10y ago

You must be living in a bubble tbh. I am using vim for 12+ years now and it is perfectly fine.

owaislone 10y ago
Vim is fine but Neovim is better and judging from the community involvement, will keep getting better at a much faster rate than Vim.
- hayd 10y ago
  Vim is stagnant (or was?) which is fine for most users but sucks in the long run. Would vim 8 have async if neovim did not exist? No, because it was fine without it.

throwawa88127 10y ago

I didn't get the memo. This sounds like typical millenial propaganda from a couple of fanboys trying to wrestle control of some software from the original authors.

Sphax 10y ago

From a Windows user point of view neovim is strictly than vim 8 / gvim 8.

Sphax 10y ago
Can't edit now but that was meant to be "strictly worse"
toonse 10y ago
Yes, this. My primary work environment is Windows. Every attempt to install and successfully use neovim has been far from optimal and sometimes flat out broken. So I go back to gVim.

falcolas 10y ago

Speaking solely as an outsider to the development of Vim, NeoVim, and Vim extensions - the only time I see references to NeoVim anymore is when someone else brings up regular Vim (and always includes the narrow-sighted rant of "vim is obsolete, neovim is the future"). Threads here imply that NeoVim has a lot more traction and capabilities than Vim, yet it might as well not exist for all that we don't hear about it. > that'll be the end of old Vim To be frank, no, it won't. Not so long as Vim is installed by default, and holds the name Vim. NeoVim can't even simply replace Vim as the default, since it works differently (the changed configuration path, for one), and no longer works on all of the platforms that operating systems are installed upon (even if intentionally). Vim just works. Until that is no longer the case, NeoVim will have a hard time gaining traction outside of those who are already waving its flag. That said, I appreciate NeoVim - if for nothing else - for prompting Bram to realize there are more usecases. But I would argue that its time has passed, as bright as that time was.

ajamesm 10y ago
Vim never needed async, it Just Wo ESC j j j j jjj ESC rks(TM):q :wq
anoother 10y ago
> Not so long as Vim is installed by default, and holds the name Vim. NeoVim can't even simply replace Vim as the default, since it works differently Something about this comment (perhaps the above quote) makes me think that perhaps neovim will be to vim, what vim is to vi...
elliotec 10y ago
Neovim is objectively better in numerous ways. I don't need to list them here because a Google search should suffice. It should be said that people who use Neovim often use the word Vim to keep it understandable and not seem annoying.