Vim 9.2

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Wayland, X11, and BSDs

  • Some are excited about “full Wayland UI” and clipboard support, especially alongside XDG Base Directory adherence and modernized GUI on Windows.
  • Others worry about eventual X11 deprecation, particularly for BSDs where Wayland is harder to port (NetBSD/OpenBSD issues were mentioned).
  • One view: as long as OS X11 drivers exist, Vim’s X11 support matters; another: for most users Vim runs in a terminal, so GUI/Wayland is secondary.

Vim vs Neovim and scripting ecosystems

  • Several commenters feel Neovim has become the “center of gravity,” with a more modern architecture, aggressive refactoring, and better defaults, but appreciate Vim’s stability and long-term consistency across old systems.
  • Discussion contrasts Vim9Script vs Lua:
    • Pro-Lua: strong tooling, type-checking, embedding, performance, and a rich ecosystem; good fit for Neovim’s plugin model.
    • Skeptical of Lua: unfamiliarity, 1-based indices, and desire for more mainstream or typed languages (JS/TS, Ruby, Rust, Lisp layers like Fennel, Janet).
  • Some like Vim9Script for small, local scripts and see less need for heavy LSP/tooling; others think Vim9 is “too late” to attract many new plugin authors.

Coexistence vs unification

  • A recurring suggestion is that Vim devs should “help Neovim” or merge projects; responses emphasize OSS reality (people hack on what they want), diverged codebases/goals, and value in having both: Vim as conservative/stable, Neovim as experimental/IDE-like.

AI tooling with Vim

  • Many appreciate that Vim itself is not adding “AI features,” but describe rich AI usage around it: Copilot plugins, terminal-based agents (Claude, aider), RPC-based control of Neovim, and various AI-assisted plugin development workflows.
  • Some say AI reduces their need for sophisticated IDEs or even Vim itself; others find AI makes fast, keyboard-centric Vim workflows more valuable.

Charityware model

  • The long-standing Uganda charity model is widely praised; people clarify that Vim donations go directly to that cause, now via a successor organization post-founder.
  • One thread describes corporate legal/approval friction caused by the “charityware” clause, leading to bureaucratic headaches despite broad moral support.

Learning curve, plugins, and features

  • Newer users find Vimscript and plugin management daunting; recommendations include classic books and tutorials, plus understanding Vim’s Unix/ex heritage.
  • Some suggest switching to Neovim for a smoother plugin ecosystem; others argue the “plugin management nightmare” exists in both.
  • Desired features include native multiple cursors; traditionalists counter that macros, search/replace, visual blocks, and LSP-based refactoring already cover most use cases.
  • Misc notes: curiosity about the dual v9.2.0/v9.2.0000 Git tags, praise for ongoing development (e.g., new diff algorithm), and reports of a rare indentation bug someone is encouraged to file.