URL:         http://www.math.fu-berlin.de/~guckes/vim/newsgroup.html
URL:         https://www.vim8.org/newsgroup.html (mirror)
Created:     Fri Dec  1 00:00:00 MET 1995
Last update: Fri Feb 05 04:24:34 CET 1999

VIM - Newsgroup and Usenet

VIM does not have a newsgroup of it's own. But the appropriate newsgroup to post to is comp.editors.

But before asking please contact a local guru and ask him whether he can solve the problem. Also, take a look at the huge helptexts using ":help". Search through them with keywords that might have to do with the problem.

If you think that noone can help you locally then you might consider posting it on Usenet. But before posting please put together some info which is usually requested.

HowTo post on Usenet about Vim

Check the old articles!

Seriously - do a little research before asking questions. Try to find articles about the problem before you post. If you do not have a good newsreader then you can use the URLs below to query the news services Altavista and Dejanews. I cannot promise that the given URLs will find your stuff, but they can give you an example on how to find articles with these. Furthermore, you can get an instant reply for your search - and that's usually better than having to write a post and wait for answers.

Version Info

Please give info on the vim version! Since vim-5.2b you can request the info from the command ":version" on the command line with the option "--version" , too. You can redirect this output easily into a file:

	vim --version > vimvers.txt

Here is an example:

$ vim --version > vimvers.txt
$ more vimvers.txt
VIM - Vi IMproved 5.2d ALPHA (1998 Jun 1, compiled Jun 11 1998 17:45:33)
Compiled with (+) or without (-):
+autocmd -browse +builtin_terms +cindent -cscope +dialogue_con +digraphs
-emacs_tags +eval +ex_extra +extra_search -farsi +file_in_path +find_in_path
+fork() +GUI_Athena +insert_expand -langmap +lispindent +modify_fname +mouse
-mouse_dec -mouse_netterm +mouse_xterm -multi_byte +perl +quickfix -python
-rightleft +showcmd +smartindent -sniff +syntax +tag_binary +tag_old_static
-tag_any_white -tcl +terminfo +textobjects +viminfo +writebackup -xterm_save
+X11
   system vimrc file: "$VIM/vimrc"
     user vimrc file: "$HOME/.vimrc"
      user exrc file: "$HOME/.exrc"
  system gvimrc file: "$VIM/gvimrc"
    user gvimrc file: "$HOME/.gvimrc"
    system menu file: "$VIM/menu.vim"
    default for $VIM: "/Vol/Pub/share/vim"
Compilation: gcc -c -I. -Iproto -DHAVE_CONFIG_H  -DUSE_GUI_ATHENA  -I. -O3 -pipe -I/Vol/pub/include -I/Vol/X11R6/include -Wall -Wshadow -I/Vol/X11R6/include  -I/Vol/pub/lib/perl5/sun4-sunos/5.00401/CORE
Linking: gcc -s -L/Vol/pub/lib -o vim -L. -L/Vol/X11R6/lib  -lXaw -lXmu -lXext -lXt -lX11  -lncurses    /Vol/pub/lib/perl5/sun4-sunos/5.00401/auto/DynaLoader/DynaLoader.a -L/Vol/pub/lib/perl5/sun4-sunos/5.00401/CORE -lperl -lgdbm -ldbm -ldb -ldl -lm -lc -lposix

Also, which operating system are you using vim on? Let us know! Use one of these commands to find out about your current system:

	UNIX:	uname -a
	DOS:	version

Values of Options

For all things that involve options please give their values! Remember that you can look at values with :set option? , eg ":set textwidth?".

Examples

Give examples! Please make sure that the example is reproducible.

Put "vim" into the Subject line

When asking questions about vim then please say so in the Subject: line by making "vim" the first word. Add other keywords, too, for example variable or command names.

	Subject: vim - Qp and textwidth
	Subject: :g vs :v [vim]

Reading about Vim on Usenet

If you do not have a newsreader to read Usenet News (what a pity) then you can read News via DejaNews or Altavista.

To make this easier for you here are some links which already extract info about vim:

DejaNews - (g)vim: NewsService: DejaNews; Newsgroups: comp.editors; Search for: "vim" OR "gvim"; Sorting: by Date; Format: terse; Maximum Hits: 100
Altavista - (g)vim: NewsService: Altavista; Newsgroups: comp.editors; Search for: "vim" OR "gvim"; Note: Altavista starts with oldest article first. :-(

Thanks for the URLs, Richard! :-)

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Sven Guckes [email protected]