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How do I replace vi by vim so that when I type vi in terminal vim is opened?

3 Answers 3

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'vi' in Ubuntu already starts 'vim', although by default it starts 'vim-tiny' (which comes closest to the original 'vi' in its (lack of) features). You can see this with:

sudo update-alternatives --display vi

If you want it to use another version of vim, then make sure it's installed and run:

sudo update-alternatives --config vi
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  • Can I use update-alternatives for other applications, what does update-alternatives do, does it installs extra features ?
    – Searock
    Oct 12, 2010 at 17:52
  • Yes you can. It updates alternatives. No, it doesn't. If you want to know more use man update-alternatives or start a new question.
    – Martin
    Oct 12, 2010 at 18:36
  • This should be marked as the correct answer, instead of the workaround that was accepted!
    – OmarOthman
    Dec 24, 2015 at 14:29
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You can add

alias vi=vim

to ~/.bashrc . This will start vim whenever you type vi.

Note that in Ubuntu 10.10 (and I think also 10.04) vi is already mapped to vim.

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  • Sorry for another silly question, but where is .bashrc located ? I am quite new to Ubuntu.
    – Searock
    Oct 12, 2010 at 17:46
  • In your home directory. Just type vim ~/.bashrc
    – Peter Smit
    Oct 12, 2010 at 17:47
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    Actually, 'vi' has pointed to some variation of 'vim' since almost forever in Ubuntu (see my answer about alternatives to know how to change which variation).
    – JanC
    Oct 13, 2010 at 6:31
4

In addition to what Peter Smit has suggested. You can do the following as well to make that change system wide rather than just your account.

add alias vi='vim' to /etc/bash.bashrc

or create a symlink to vim

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/vim /usr/bin/vi

However on my system both /usr/bin/vim and /usr/bin/vi are symlinks to /etc/alternatives/vim

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  • 2
    The symlink is a bad suggestion: use update-alternatives to manage this in Ubuntu.
    – Roger Pate
    Oct 13, 2010 at 17:45
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    yes I agree do it the correct way. I didn't know that vim was using the alternatives system. Oct 13, 2010 at 17:52

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