Category: gVim

Ubuntu 14.04: Programming Environments

This is a continuation of my Ubuntu 14.04 Install.  In the previous post, I covered all of my notes on installing network/Internet-related configuration.  In this post, I’ll cover setting up my programming environments and applications.  If you would like to see the list of posts in this series, you can look at the Ubuntu 14.04 Install page.

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Software to Watch: Vi Everywhere!

I made an effort several years ago to learn the vi key commands, and I have learned to like that user interface.  The key combinations may take a bit to learn, but once you learn them, you can move around and edit quickly.  I am always up for adding the Vi interface to more and more.

I found a web browser that uses similar key combinations:

S3hh Blog: Vimprobable web browser

You can read more about Vimprobable on the SourceForge Project Homepage.

To install the browser, I added the repository with this command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:serge-hallyn/vimprobable
sudo apt-get update

I used the Software Center to install it:

Installing Vimprobable

Or, you could just run:

sudo apt-get install vimprobable2

After it installs, you should find it in your menu:

Vimprobable in the Menu

Here’s what the browser looks like:

Vimprobable

You can use J and K to move up and down in the page.  o will open a page in the current window.  / will search.  f will follow links.  y will copy the URL of your current page.  H goes back to the previous page.  You see the complete list on the Keybindings page.

The f command is pretty cool.  You can select your link with a number.  I pressed f on the project home page and I can go to the keybindings page by pressing 4.

Follow mode in Vimprobable

The open command will also search when you don’t enter a URL.  I typed “o digitaleagle”, and I got this:

Vimprobable Search

If you’re not ready to bite off a whole new browser, you can settle for a plugin.  S3hh also mentions a few more plugins to Chrome and Firefox:

I’ll spend some time messing with the vrome.  I’ll have to report back after some time using it.

If I had a request for a vim-like tool, I would ask for a compiz-fusion tool.  I want something where I can use vim-like keyboard shortcuts to navigate and control windows.  Maybe it could use the F12 key or scroll lock instead of Escape.

If you’re still not satisfied with these tools, here are some more that I ran across in my search.  (I didn’t have a chance to try all of them out):