
Vim. Whether you love it, hate it, or haven't heard of it (in which case you're missing out lmao)
its ubiquity can't really be debated. And to be quite honest, I find it so much
more _natural_ than any other editor I've used - and I've used almost all of the
major one. VSCode, Sublime, IntelliJ derivatives, Atom, and for chrissakes EMACS
\- nothing really stacked up to Vim's intuitive interface (at least for me). Now
I literally use Vim for _**everything**_ - even for things that normally require
specific environments, like Flutter (Android Studio) or Data Science in Python
(PyCharm or Jupyter). The reason that I'm able to do that is two specific facets
of my vim environment:
* NeoVim - a distribution of Vim that's more open source, supporting asynchronous
backends, and has some extra features like native terminals.
* coc.nvim - a plugin for NeoVim
Neovim specifically is pretty easy to set up - it's literally the same interface
as Vim with some nice goodies thrown in. COC.nvim takes a little longer to set
up on the other hand, so I'm going to cover setting up COC.nvim for various
development scenarios in a future article. The configuration in this article
should allow you to come out with a great experience in either Vim or NeoVim.

The goal of this article isn't to just _give you_ a config. It's to help you
understand how Vim configuration works - hopefully to an extent that you feel
comfortable writing your own Vim configuration in the future.

## Native Vim Configuration
First we're going to set up some native Vim/NeoVim configuration. These settings
will allow us to have a more comfortable experience - even before we get plugins
involved. Let's start with the first four clusters.

```vim
set noshowmode

set ignorecase
set smartcase

set mouse=a

set hidden

syntax on
set printoptions+=syntax:y
```

This cluster is going to set a couple of settings that lead the way for the rest
of the configuration. I want to explain these settings in order:
* `noshowmode` - hides the current mode in your command line, this will instead
be shown in Airline, which we will install later.
* I've added `smartcase` and `ignorecase`, which will essentially ignore CaSe when
typing and searching, but start caring about them if you have a capital letter
in your regex
* `mouse=a` enables mouse support
* `hidden` allows us to edit multiple buffers at the same time - something we'll
take advantage of by using airline.
* The last two lines allow us to have syntax highlighting enabled for applicable
filetypes.

```vim
set expandtab
set tabstop=4
set softtabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set smarttab
set autoindent
set smartindent
set shiftround
```

This cluster is going to convert your Tab into 4 spaces, and allows the rest of
the editor to auto-tab and stuff. Basically sets up tabbing.

```vim
set undofile
set undodir=~/.vim/undodir
```

```vim
filetype plugin indent on
filetype plugin on

set splitright
set splitbelow

set nocompatible

set clipboard=unnamedplus
```

```vim
if !&scrolloff
    set scrolloff=8
endif

if !&sidescrolloff
    set sidescrolloff=5
endif
```

```vim
if has("autocmd")
  au BufReadPost * if line("'\"") > 0 && line("'\"") <= line("$")
    \| exe "normal! g'\"" | endif
endif
set number

augroup numbertoggle
  autocmd!
  autocmd BufEnter,FocusGained,InsertLeave * set relativenumber
  autocmd BufLeave,FocusLost,InsertEnter   * set norelativenumber
augroup END
```

```vim
set termguicolors

set noerrorbells

set nowrap

autocmd BufEnter * silent! lcd %:p:h
```

```vim
set nohlsearch

set noshowmatch
set noswapfile
set nobackup
set incsearch

set updatetime=50

set shortmess+=c

set colorcolumn=80
highlight ColorColumn ctermbg=0 guibg=#4C566A
```

## Plugins!
Plugins - the things that take the normally Vim even more powerful than you could
imagine. While the language-related plugins tend to be managed by coc.nvim
(not covered in this already long guide), we're going to use Vim-Plug to manage
all of the plugins that modify, add, and improve behaviors in Vim.


Your First (good) VimRC


Linux, BSD, and other Unix-like systems have recently seen a resurgence in their popularity. This isn't too surprising, considering the fact that Unix-like systems, particularly Linux, have been receiving much more consideration and support from developers and companies. A good example includes the Proton initiative by Valve, which allows Linux users to now be able to play a plethora of games previously inaccessible to them. However, now that Linux (and by extension other Unix-like systems) is a viable OS for the average consumer, should you consider switching? This article should help you decide, and also serves as a brief introduction into the wonderful world of linux.

## Linux isn't an OS!!!
There's a common misconception that Linux is an OS. I can't tell you the number of times I've had new users try to find 'stock linux', only to find that it doesn't exist. Contrary to popular perspecitve, linux is a *kernel*. This means that it inherently cannot be an Operating System on its own, but other Operating Systems can be built off of the Linux kernel and packaged for the mainstream consumers. These OS are called distributions, or 'distros' for short. There are infinitely many distros, each with their own combination of backend and UI. The distinction here is not pertinent to the discussion, but will be covered in a future article. Regardless, it helps to know the difference.

### Here are some distros you might like
I would recommend these distributions regardless of the UI you use on them. Know that many of these distributions come with various options for UI.

* Beginner
  * Ubuntu
  * Elementary OS
  * Pop! OS
  * MX Linux
  * Linux Mint

* Intermediate
  * Manjaro
  * Solus

* Hacky Hacky Time
  * Arch Linux
  * Gentoo 
  * Void Linux
  * Debian
  * Fedora

## Pros and Cons
There are a lot of things going for Linux. For one, you have what is essentially one of the most well-documented and open-source communities out there. If there's an issue on your system, you'll be able to find effective support relatively quickly, keeping your sysadmin troubles to a minimum. Furthermore, Linux is heavily favored by many packages that you may want to use as a developer. In fact, most packages that you will use as a developer were likely developed on a Linux distribution of some sort. This means that if you are a developer, you are sure to experience heightened compatibility compared to your peasant Windows days (not that Windows is bad). Futhermore, there's also the inclusion of an actual sh shell in Linux. This means that you are able to have a legitimate terminal experience, rather than the pathetic excuse for a term that Windows calls powershell.

However, those benefits only address the user experience. There is also a profound effect on how you interact with your hardware when using Linux. For starters, Linux is more lightweight than Windows... *much* more lightweight. I currently use an X1 Carbon Gen 7. On Windows, I would experience background RAM usage of anywhere from 3.5 to 4 gigabytes, but on my Arch Linux installation, I experience around a 10th of the usage, with only 300 to 400 MB of RAM being used. That's a significant improvement in process headroom, one that could be especially beneficial for those with older or lower specced computers. Note that depending on the distro and UI you use, you will experience varying degrees of resource usage, so be advised.

Despite all the great benefits to using Linux, that's not to say that there aren't cons too. The glaring one is the ubiquity of Windows. Although Linux is starting to gain traction, Windows has been the go-to OS for many over the last few decades. This has lead to a focus on Windows support from many applications and vendors, meaning that you may not be able to get the same seamless experience of software installation on Linux that you do on Windows. That's not even considering the battery disparity. Due to Windows' favor from hardware manufacturers, it generally receives significant battery management protocols, protocols that aren't shared to Linux distros. This results in significantly greater battery drain out of box, to the point that I have had my battery mileage plummet from 12 hours to 4 without configuring battery management.

## Verdict
Linux certainly isn't for everyone. It's a category of operating system that's hard for many to navigate, one that's easy to screw up if you don't know what you're doing, and one that if rife with compatibility issues. But consider the fact that, apart from the last one, the other two cons are preventable. You can learn how to navigate a new OS, and all systems are easy to frick up if you don't know what you're doing. But it's obvious that the benefits far outweight the risks of running a Linux system. So if you're a developer that wants a great new OS to use, and you're tired of Windows, look no further than a Linux distribution as your salvation.


Notebook

Your First (good) VimRC

7/1/2020

To Linux or not to Linux...

5/28/2020