The #NetBSD documentation on vi is pretty good. You could learn it from this.
https://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/chap-edit.html#chap-edit-configuring-vi-exrc
It's not full Vim, though the #vi in the BSDs is still a great editor. I tend to go for full #Vim, but I do switch between the two.
I also like that on the BSDs, when you install Vim, you can still run vi by typing that command, and vim when you want the full-fat version.
Also, I only recently learned that .exrc is the configuration file for vi
Oct 30, 2026, 11:05 AM@passthejoe There is also:
/usr/share/doc/usd/vi/vitut.txt
(Open with less, contains terminal escape sequences.)
@passthejoe #vi on #netbsd is #nvi. If you need multibyte characters install #nvi2.
I used #vim many years on #linux, but I have become a minimalist, so when I started with #bsd I decided to use the installation defaults, on #netbsd it is #sh, #nvi, #ctwm, ...
All the scripts I wrote over the years work fine in #sh.
Though if you need, ed(1) should be 8-bit clean, allowing you to edit multi-byte text :flan_wink:
Bostic nvi got that that from elvis which in turn copied the original, which was of course a 'visual' mode added to Joy's ex program.
Moolenaar's VIM came from STEVIE, which did not process .exrc, but did respect $EXINIT. So VIM had more of a blank slate to start from.
Fun fact you might now enjoy: The 1993 version of VIM's doco primarily described the initialization files in terms of the AmigaDOS and MS-DOS drive letter S: . It was S:.vimrc and _vimrc on MS-DOS. Unix names were tacked-on parentheticals for the port to Unix.
VIM, that most people think of as a Unix or Linux thing, had some decidedly non-Unix roots. Whereas nvi descended from a Minix program.
I wonder how many modern VIM users would have their minds blown from knowing that they're using a DOS text editor. (-:
@passthejoe my problem is I learned on vim, so with vi I never know when I'm going to hit the missing stair
@aburka This happens to me. To hack at my configs, it's Vi. For major things, Vim
I have an advantage, here. I learned the genuine, original, Joy and Horton vi. Then downloaded and tweaked STEVIE. (-: