{"id":198,"date":"2026-01-28T03:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T22:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.vicnunes.com\/?p=198"},"modified":"2026-01-28T03:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T22:02:29","slug":"as-text-editors-go-vim-is-the-goat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.vicnunes.com\/?p=198","title":{"rendered":"As text editors go, Vim is the GOAT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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My first encounter with Vim<\/a> was in 2000 when my then employer decided to port our main product (Bandwidth Control System<\/a>) from Windows NT to Linux. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linux was a fresh experience for me, and it opened the door to diving into Emacs and Vim for text editing. I recall reading an Emacs<\/a> vs. Vim article in a magazine or trade-rag a while back that really piqued my interest. Even now, Emacs still feels a bit out of reach for my simple mind. Vim, however, felt intuitive and almost magical after some learning and experimenting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primarily due to discovering and appreciating John Grubber\u2019s Markdown<\/a> for my professional writing requirements, Vim remained dormant for nearly 25 years, although it was never forgotten. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward to 2026 where I am now retired and self-hosting<\/a> several services for fun and practical purposes. As a macOS user who operates a Proxmox lab and has a preference for running Debian LXC or virtual machines over Docker containers, the need for a fast and powerful multi-platform text editor became evident. So, was Vim still the clear choice for me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 25 Years the Vim-adjacent landscape changed a lot. Enter Neovim<\/a>, the newer shinier and more extensible Vim. For roughly two months, I experimented with Neovim, Kickstart.nvim<\/a>, LazyVim<\/a>, LunarVim<\/a>, NvChad<\/a> and endless variations of plugins. This time-sink forced me to re-evaluate what my actual needs are. I\u2019m not a programmer, the target audience for most of the above Neovim derivitives. Instead my needs are closer to that of a systems or network operator (Sysops or Netops).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, I reverted to plain Vim with minimal plugins to easily replicate my setup across Macs and Linux systems. Sure, I could also use it on MS-Windows (WSL<\/a>), but avoid Windows like the plague that it is.

Vim is a truly magical tool that keeps giving, and it\u2019s incredibly challenging in a good way. So, dive in, become proficient, and thank me later!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A custom Ansible playbook<\/a> simplifies the replication of my Vim configuration. What follows are my Ansible configuration files that install and configure Vim on target host(s) in the inventory.ini file.
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Ansible files<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

inventory.ini<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Defines the target host(s) executed by the Ansible Playbook (install_vim.yaml)\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

# Ansible Inventory\n\n[all]\n192.168.5.12\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
install_vim.yaml (Ansible playbook)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Runs the vim Ansible role<\/p>\n\n\n\n
---\n- name: Deploy my vim configuration\n  hosts: all\n  roles:\n      - role: vim\n  become: yes\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
vim (Ansible role) directory structure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
.\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 defaults\n\u2502   \u2514\u2500\u2500 main.yml\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 files\n\u2502   \u251c\u2500\u2500 config\n\u2502   \u2502   \u2514\u2500\u2500 vim\n\u2502   \u2502       \u251c\u2500\u2500 colors.vim\n\u2502   \u2502       \u251c\u2500\u2500 fzf.vim\n\u2502   \u2502       \u251c\u2500\u2500 keybinds.vim\n\u2502   \u2502       \u251c\u2500\u2500 lightline.vim\n\u2502   \u2502       \u251c\u2500\u2500 options.vim\n\u2502   \u2502       \u251c\u2500\u2500 plugins.vim\n\u2502   \u2502       \u2514\u2500\u2500 vimrc\n\u2502   \u2514\u2500\u2500 vim-env.bash\n\u2514\u2500\u2500 tasks\n    \u2514\u2500\u2500 main.yml\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
defaults\/main.yml<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
---\n# defaults file for vim role\n\n# Vim configuration directory\nvim_config_dir: \"~\/.config\/vim\"\n\n# Vim configuration file location\nvim_config_file: \"~\/.config\/vim\/vimrc\"\n\n# Viminfo file location\nvim_viminfo_file: \"~\/.config\/vim\/viminfo\"\n\n# Undo directory\nvim_undo_dir: \"~\/.config\/vim\/undo\"\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
files\/config\/vim\/colors.vim<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
set termguicolors\nlet g:tokyonight_enable_italic = 1\ncolorscheme tokyonight\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
files\/config\/vim\/fzf.vim<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\" FZF keymaps (requires Plug 'junegunn\/fzf.vim')\n\n\" Files\nnnoremap <leader>ff :Files<CR>\nnnoremap <leader>fo :History<CR>\nnnoremap <leader>fb :Buffers<CR>\nnnoremap <leader>fq :clist<CR>    \" For quickfix list\nnnoremap <leader>fh :Helptags<CR>\n\n\" Grep current string\nnnoremap <leader>fs :Rg <C-r><C-w><CR>\n\n\" Grep input string (fzf prompt)\nnnoremap <leader>fg :Rg<Space>\n\n\" Grep for current file name (without extension)\nnnoremap <leader>fc :execute 'Rg ' . expand('%:t:r')<CR>\n\n\" Find files in your Vim config\nnnoremap <leader>fi :Files ~\/.config\/vim<CR>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
files\/config\/vim\/keybindings.vim<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
imap jj <Esc>\n\n\" Set leader key\nlet mapleader = \" \"\n\n\" Open netrw with <leader>cd\nnnoremap <leader>e :Ex<CR>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
files\/config\/vim\/lightline.vim<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
set laststatus=2\nlet g:lightline = {\n      \\ 'colorscheme' : 'tokyonight',\n      \\ 'active': {\n      \\   'left': [ [ 'mode', 'paste' ],\n      \\             [ 'gitbranch', 'readonly', 'filename', 'modified' ] ],\n      \\   'right': [ [ 'lineinfo' ], [ 'fileformat', 'fileencoding', 'filetype' ] ]\n      \\ },\n      \\ 'component_function': {\n      \\   'gitbranch': 'FugitiveHead',\n      \\   'filename': 'LightlineFilename'\n      \\ }\n      \\ }\n\nfunction! LightlineFilename()\n  return expand('%:t') !=# '' ? expand('%:t') : '[No Name]'\nendfunction\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
files\/config\/vim\/options.vim<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\" Add line numbers\nset number\nset nrformats= \"treat all numerals as decimals\n\nset clipboard=unnamedplus\n\nset relativenumber\nset tabstop=4\nset shiftwidth=4\nset autoindent\nset mouse=a\n\nset guifont=Monaco:h16\n\nsyntax on\n\nset rtp+=\/opt\/homebrew\/opt\/fzf\n\n\" remove startup screen\nset shortmess+=I\n\n\" Set all vim directories to ~\/.config\/vim\nset viminfofile=~\/.config\/vim\/viminfo\n\n\" Enable persistent undo\nset undofile\nset undodir=~\/.config\/vim\/undo\/\/\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
files\/config\/vim\/plugins.vim<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
let s:plugin_dir = expand('~\/.config\/vim\/plugged')\n\nfunction! s:ensure(repo)\n  let name = split(a:repo, '\/')[-1]\n  let path = s:plugin_dir . '\/' . name\n\n  if !isdirectory(path)\n    if !isdirectory(s:plugin_dir)\n      call mkdir(s:plugin_dir, 'p')\n    endif\n    execute '!git clone --depth=1 https:\/\/github.com\/' . a:repo . ' ' . shellescape(path)\n  endif\n\n  execute 'set runtimepath+=' . fnameescape(path)\nendfunction\n\ncall s:ensure('ghifarit53\/tokyonight-vim')\ncall s:ensure('junegunn\/fzf')\ncall s:ensure('junegunn\/fzf.vim')\ncall s:ensure('itchyny\/lightline.vim')\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
files\/config\/vim\/vimrc<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\" Vim Configuration File\n\" Managed by Ansible - vim role\n\nsource ~\/.config\/vim\/options.vim\nsource ~\/.config\/vim\/keybinds.vim\nsource ~\/.config\/vim\/plugins.vim\nsource ~\/.config\/vim\/fzf.vim\nsource ~\/.config\/vim\/lightline.vim\nsource ~\/.config\/vim\/colors.vim\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
files\/vim-env.bash<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
# ===========================================\n# VIM CONFIGURATION\n# Managed by Ansible - vim role\n# ===========================================\n\n# Set VIMINIT to use custom vim configuration location\nexport VIMINIT=\"source ~\/.config\/vim\/vimrc\"\n\n# FZF integration for vim\nexport FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND='fd --type f --hidden --follow'\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
tasks\/main.yml<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
---\n# tasks file for vim role\n\n- name: Check if vim is installed\n  ansible.builtin.command: which vim\n  register: vim_check\n  changed_when: false\n  failed_when: false\n  become: no\n\n- name: Install vim (macOS)\n  ansible.builtin.shell: brew install vim\n  when:\n      - vim_check.rc != 0\n      - ansible_os_family == 'Darwin'\n  become: no\n\n- name: Install vim (Debian\/Ubuntu)\n  ansible.builtin.apt:\n      name: vim\n      state: present\n      update_cache: yes\n  when:\n      - vim_check.rc != 0\n      - ansible_os_family == 'Debian'\n  become: yes\n\n- name: Install vim (RedHat\/CentOS\/Fedora)\n  ansible.builtin.yum:\n      name: vim\n      state: present\n  when:\n      - vim_check.rc != 0\n      - ansible_os_family == 'RedHat'\n  become: yes\n\n- name: Install vim (Arch Linux)\n  ansible.builtin.pacman:\n      name: vim\n      state: present\n  when:\n      - vim_check.rc != 0\n      - ansible_os_family == 'Archlinux'\n  become: yes\n\n- name: Ensure vim config directory exists\n  ansible.builtin.file:\n      path: \"{{ vim_config_dir }}\"\n      state: directory\n      mode: \"0755\"\n  become: no\n\n- name: Ensure vim subdirectories exist\n  ansible.builtin.file:\n      path: \"{{ item }}\"\n      state: directory\n      mode: \"0755\"\n  become: no\n  loop:\n      - \"{{ vim_undo_dir }}\"\n\n- name: Deploy vim configuration files\n  ansible.builtin.copy:\n      src: \"config\/vim\/\"\n      dest: \"{{ vim_config_dir }}\/\"\n      mode: \"0644\"\n  become: no\n\n- name: Deploy .fdignore to home directory\n  ansible.builtin.copy:\n      src: fdignore\n      dest: \"~\/.fdignore\"\n      mode: \"0644\"\n  become: no\n\n- name: Ensure ~\/.config\/bash directory exists\n  ansible.builtin.file:\n      path: \"~\/.config\/bash\"\n      state: directory\n      mode: \"0755\"\n  become: no\n\n- name: Deploy vim environment configuration to modular bash\n  ansible.builtin.copy:\n      src: vim-env.bash\n      dest: \"~\/.config\/bash\/vim-env.bash\"\n      mode: \"0644\"\n  become: no\n\n- name: Display vim configuration status\n  ansible.builtin.debug:\n      msg:\n          - \"Vim configuration completed!\"\n          - \"Config directory: {{ vim_config_dir }}\"\n          - \"Config file: {{ vim_config_file }}\"\n          - \"Viminfo location: {{ vim_viminfo_file }}\"\n          - \"Environment variables configured in ~\/.config\/bash\/vim-env.bash\"\n          - \"Note: Ensure your .bashrc sources ~\/.config\/bash\/*.bash files\"\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Recommended Vim Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n