Where is vim located?

[meyer0095]

I just switched over to Mint/Linux from Windows yesterday. Very confused about the file structure compared to Windows.

I am trying to find the vim directory to mess around with configurations and plugins, but have no idea where vim was installed. Could anyone also point me in the direction to a good guide on the file structure of Mint/Linux. Do all distros have the same file structure, or do they vary by distro? Are programs installed in a central location like C:\Program Files in windows?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[xenopeek]

This could be the start of a beautiful story, called "how I borked my Linux Mint installation on the first day by pretending Linux = Windows." It doesn't have a happy ending

Not to worry, we're here to help write a better story First, generally the various Linux distros have a filesystem layout based on the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, which you can access here: https://wiki.linuxfoundation.org/en/FHS. Generally a program's static files are installed in /usr, which you normally have no reason to modify, and it's system-wide configuration files are installed in /etc, which you would modify sometimes. Your personal preferences are saved by the program as you use it in hidden files or folders in your home folder (press Ctrl+H to show these), or you can create these as you need them.

vim has a system-wide configuration file in /etc/vim/vimrc, but you wouldn't normally edit this. You would edit, or first create, the .vimrc file in your home folder for your personal preferences. Read the documentation for help on this; here is the online copy of the relevant section: http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/s ... -settings/.

vim plugins or scripts are generally also installed in your home folder, in the folder called .vim.

There are various other resources available for help with vim: http://www.vim.org/docs.php. Perhaps good to start there.

[meyer0095]

My .vimrc file is not being read, nor are any my plugins in ~/.vim :/

If I do :scriptnames it is showing 17 files allow found in /usr/share/vim/vim73

How do I configure vim to also read the files found in ~/.vim?

Thanks!

[xenopeek]

Your .vimrc should be read, if it is located in /home/yourusername/.vimrc. Sorry for failing to mention this, but by default *.vim script files you want to add should be in the /home/yourusername/.vim/plugin folder (or in a subfolder of that). This is also documented in the manual, here the online copy: http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/usr_05.html#05.4.

This page on the Ubuntu wiki about vim may be helpful: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VimHowto.

You can get scripts from the vim website, or from the vim scripts mirror on GitHub.

And yes, default scripts are installed somewhere in /usr but with the above you should be able to load your own scripts successfully.

[meyer0095]

I accidently placed in .vimrc file in my .vim folder instead of right in the home folder. That fixed everything. Thanks for all the help and information!