this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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Bram Moolenaar, creator of vim, has died.

If you are a vim user, consider donating to International Child Care Fund Holland - a charity Bram heavily supported. You can find the link on vim.org

:wq

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[–] [email protected] 69 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I am truly and deeply saddened to hear this. My condolences to his family.

vim or vim-enhanced is one of the first things I install on any distro that doesn't have it included by default. I have been using it for decades and am so used to seeing Bram's name come up on the screen whenever I start the editor. His work greatly enriched my programming experience over the years and I am sure for countless other people as well. I don't know what to say except a heartfelt "Thank you, Bram".

[–] [email protected] 55 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It could be that we have transitioned into the unforeseeable future.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It most certainly feels that way, in more ways than one.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Especially No. 8

8: How can the community ensure that the Vim project succeeds for the foreseeable future? Keep me alive.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Looks like I picked a good time to learn emacs (with evil mode)

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Very sad. Like others here, vim is a huge part of my work. I even use qutebrowser for vim keys. From what I understood, he was the primary developer and gatekeeper for vim. I wonder if he had plans in place for when he was going to retire

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’m curious as well. Maybe I will re-consider neovim.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

For my machines, I switched to NeoVim a while ago. There were certain instances when editing large files that Vim would lag and NeoVim doesn't. But I manage a lot of systems that are not my systems, so I use Vim on those.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I switched several years ago, back when neovim did async stuff and :term and supported things like ALE before vim8 implemented similar functionality.

So far, I haven't run into anything that neovim can't handle in my day-to-day, and it seems generally faster, but that's probably me falling for the "neo" in the name. Like how painting flames on the side of a car make it go faster.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

He had publicly stated that keeping him alive was the only succession plan.

He might have been kidding though.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago

What an absolute legend. Hard to imagine many others with as significant of an impact on programmers all over the world. He will be greatly missed. RIP.

:x

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Oh wow this so sad. Ever since I used vimtutor the first time, Ive used vim keys in every editor I used. Hopefully the project keeps doing well without him, its a great piece of software.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My entire life has vim key bindings. My window manager and browser all have vim key bindings. I work in vim. I write my shopping lists in vim.

I really can't overstate how ingrained vim is in my day to day life. Bram had a big impact.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Same here OP

Bram will be missed. ✊🏾 :wq

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Me too. I've used vim to make my living for at least the last 20 years.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I hope it ultimately re-organizes as more of a community effort now like neovim.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I don't want to sound like an asshole but maybe we all should focus on Neovim from now on. I find in much better than original Vim in many ways.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I am truly sorry to hear this. As a longtime Vim user, I cannot thank Bram enough for his massive contribution to software development and for his kindness. His legacy will live on, not only in Vim, but in all the communities he selflessly supported for so many years.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

RIP. Even this Emacs user uses evil mode these days 🫡

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago

Rest in peace.

:wq

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

I would imagine his family knows his direct impact at least somewhat but I wonder if they know how many lives have been changed by what was written with the tools Bram gave us. This one really unexpectedly hit me as aside from using vim, I've had zero interaction with Bram. But vim is such a big part of my life that I found myself tearing up a bit even though I was in the gym when I saw the news.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

Rest in peace!

:wq 🫡

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

vim got me started programming recently, love it. Rest well,

:wq

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

While I've never been able to wrap my head around vim, the impact it has had is undeniable. He will be sorely missed. RIP

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

:wq brother.

I loved programming exactly when i learned to love vim.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Rest in peace, Bram! Your legacy will continue to live on in us all.

:wq

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

My condolences.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Well, damn. What sad news. :(

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

We all swear to honour you by removing pico / nano from all systems everywhere.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In this case :wq does not sound right.

I would go with :q! (or :qa!)

Because death always fucks up all your plans.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

I like to think of it as, his history and legacy being written to for the final time, the file being closed.

ZZ. You will be missed Bram, but your legacy will live on.

[–] Tilted 5 points 1 year ago

RIP. A legend.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

So long and thanks for all the fish

:w !sudo tee %

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

One of the first things I configure on any new system is an alias for vi to invoke vim.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago