2013/5/20 Yaakov (Cygwin/X): > Basically, if you want features, keep using vim. Otherwise, ex/vi > (vim-minimal) provides the basic POSIX functionality. The big change is > that vi != vim anymore. > >> Apart from that, I guess calling vi (and that's what *many* users are >> used to) will now result in the same error Frank reported. > > The workaround will be to use ~/.virc with vi.
But why vi != vim? alternatives fixes this on Debian/Ubuntu. Why not use it on Cygwin? vim-7.3.762 used a update-alternative in its postinstall script when there was no conflict (at least not on my setup with X). But vim-7.3.943 doesn't have it anymore. alternatives is in base, it is made to solve these kinds of conflicts. Why did you stop using it now that the conflict really started to happen? Letting the postinstall scripts return with the proper priority fixes the problem. It works perfectly when I run it manually. The command "vi" is always available and automatically uses the best version of vim. My steps: renamed vi.exe to vim-minimal.exe renamed vim.exe to vim-nox.exe Run these commands: (add as postinstall scripts): /usr/sbin/update-alternatives \ --install /usr/bin/vim vim /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe 10 \ --slave /usr/bin/vi vi /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe \ --slave /usr/bin/view view /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe \ --slave /usr/bin/vimdiff vimdiff /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe \ --slave /usr/bin/rvim rvim /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe \ --slave /usr/bin/rview rview /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe /usr/sbin/update-alternatives \ --install /usr/bin/vim vim /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe 30 \ --slave /usr/bin/vi vi /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe \ --slave /usr/bin/view view /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe \ --slave /usr/bin/vimdiff vimdiff /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe \ --slave /usr/bin/rvim rvim /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe \ --slave /usr/bin/rview rview /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe Now vi links to the best vim available. $ /usr/sbin/update-alternatives --display vim vim - status is auto. link currently points to /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe - priority 10 slave rview: /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe slave rvim: /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe slave vi: /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe slave view: /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe slave vimdiff: /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe - priority 30 slave rview: /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe slave rvim: /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe slave vi: /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe slave view: /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe slave vimdiff: /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe Current `best' version is /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe. Add the corresponding preremove scripts: /usr/sbin/update-alternatives --remove vim /usr/bin/vim-minimal.exe /usr/sbin/update-alternatives --remove vim /usr/bin/vim-nox.exe Are there any reasons not to use this? Regards, Frank