Vim 8.0 Released! How to install it in Ubuntu 16.04

vim-icon

Vim (Vi Improved) text editor has reached the 8.0 release, the first major Vim release in ten years. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04 via PPA.

Vim 8.0 brings some interesting new features, many small improvements and lots of bug fixes. Here are some of them:

  • Asynchronous I/O support, channels, JSON
  • Jobs
  • Timers
  • Partials, Lambdas and Closures
  • Packages
  • New style testing
  • Viminfo merged by timestamp
  • GTK+ 3 support
  • MS-Windows DirectX support

How to install Vim 8.0 in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Linux Mint 18/17, and their derivatives, Vim 8.0 has been made into this backport PPA

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/vim

Type in your password when it prompts and hit Enter.

Vim PPA

2. To upgrade from a previous release, launch Software Updater and you’re able to upgrade it after checking for updates.

upgrade to vim 8.0

To install or upgrade Vim from command line, run command:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install vim

To check out Vim version, run command vim –version.

Uninstall Vim 8.0:

To uninstall Vim 8.0 and downgrade it to the stock version in Ubuntu repository, run the command below to purge the PPA:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:jonathonf/vim

About ml

ml is a part time stay-at-home dad who've been using Ubuntu Desktop for a few years. He writes in the free time and wishes to share some useful tips with Ubuntu beginners and lovers.

13 comments

  1. thanks. working in mint 18.

  2. seems like many of my normal key mappings are not working correctly in vim8. Anyone else noticed this and know how to fix it?

  3. Are you planning to frequently update the ppa?

  4. Works on Ubuntu 14. Thank’s

  5. Does anybody now how to launch gvim with vim 8.0?

  6. Michael Bøcker-Larsen

    It seems it is compiled without python support.