Simon Jackson wrote:
in debian based linux distros, you can type the following..
apt-get install program
...and the system will download the appropriate files to install that
program
does vim offer anything like this? if not how hard would this be to
implement?
IIUC, apt-get is a Debian proprietary program which updates or installs some
application from the Debian repositories. Debian probably offers it for some
version of Vim, but, knowing Debian, it might be a version with some Debian
patches in it (not approved by Bram); and it is no doubt an outdated version
at least some of the time. (The latest Vim version and patchlevel is currently
7.0.201.)
To get the Vim sources, there are currently the following possible methods:
- FTP
- CVS
- Subversion
- A-A-P
A-A-P (which requires Python) is supposed to do all the work for you
(downloading whatever has changed, or all the sources the first time, and then
compiling and installing). It is mentioned on the Vim site.
Personally I use FTP, which is maybe not the most modern method, but I know
how to make it work, and it requires no other software than what can be
expected to be already installed on any computer connected to the Internet.
For a detailed explanation about how I update and compile Vim for Linux, see
http://users.skynet.be/antoine.mechelynck/vim/compunix.htm
If you have more questions about building Vim, please ask them on the vim-dev
mailing list.
Best regards,
Tony.
--
One Saturday afternoon, during the campaign to decide whether or not
there should be a Coastal Commission, I took a helicopter ride from Los
Angeles to San Diego. We passed several state beaches, some crowded
and some virtually empty. They had the same facilities, and in some
cases the crowded and the empty beach were within a quarter mile of
each other. Obviously many beach-goers prefer to be crowded together.
Buying more beaches that people won't go to because they prefer to be
crowded together on one beach is a ridiculous waste of our natural
resources and our taxes.
-- Ronald Reagan
