Hello Friends
In YouTube I watched some videos about Void Linux and in one of them was shown LazyVim
Question
- Do you have experience with LazyVim?
Thanks
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Hi Manuel,
I tested LazyVim, and for me, it was a very complex setup for Neovim, which is already extremely complex to use.
I decided to start gradually moving forward with the plugins, and I am using lazy.vim which is a plugin manager . Although it may be more work, at least I understand the plugins better, including what I installed, how I installed them, and the configuration is more personalized.
I haven’t made much progress yet because it’s very difficult to learn how to use Neovim on a daily basis.
I think anyone who uses vim knows that it’s not easy, especially when it comes to memorizing commands and key bindings.
If you want to get started with Neovim configuration, I would suggest trying something simpler first, such as lazy.vim and you gradually configure it with the plugins you test, or, for example, with kickstart.nvim, but If you already know how to work with Neovim, LazyVim is excellent, but there are others such as NvChad and AstroNvim, among others.
Here is a list of plugins in case you are interested. There are more lists, this is just one of many.
It takes a lot of patience, but I believe it’s worth the effort.
Jorge
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As a fully satisfied Vim user, I always ask what might be the reason to switch to some “successors” like Neovim and others.
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I just want “vi” wherever I go - managing UNIX or Linux headless servers…
I’ve gotten used to “vim” syntax highlighting… But I know enough “vi” to not need any fancy-schmansy shyte…
Just gimme “vi”… that’s all I want - that’s all I need…
It was disturbing recently (last 5-7 yeras) - to say the least - trying to use busy-box on a Debian rescue environment - and there was not only no “vim” there was no “vi” - I >swear-words< - I had to use >more-swearing< nano… WTF?
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For situations where Vim is too much, I’m using nano.
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Hi Alfred,
There’s no reason, we use what we like. I’ve been using nano and VSCodium for years, and now I wanted to try Neovim.
Dan is absolutely right in what he says, and that’s how he works.
Jorge
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I am the same as Daniel. …Simple vi and only a few commands within that…I suppose you could say I use vi like it was nano.
So, I never felt the need to learn all of vi , or to migrate to vim or neovim .
But if people like Jorge want vi++ I am not going to argue against it. Linux is about freedom of choice.
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I’m also using VSCodium but will never drop Vim and nano.
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Has anyone tried Geany?
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Yes. I have. But it’s not my thing.
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Yes, Neville,
But form me, it’s a matter of preference, and I couldn’t get used to Geany.
Jorge
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When I want to display line numbers - I have to remember (or google-fu) how to do that… But I hardly ever need that - e.g. shell script mentions an issue with line #number - I just open it in google and “:g”#Number" and I’m at that line…
I did try out VSCode and VSCodium - and was impressed - and it’s kinda trivial to configure it to use “vi” keystrokes… But - why bother? I’ll just use vi/vim…
But - this whole topic begs the question - where are all the emacs users?
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Any editor that requires 2 hands on the keyboard to move the cursor is not for me.
I tried emacs years ago when it was the first editor to span dos and unix.
It was usable. Meta keys drive me insane.
You are still forced into emacs by the info system today.
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Huge thanks for all for the replies
Valuable the experience, that’s why I really like this forum, real human feedback 
Jorge really huge thanks for the detailed feedback in your first answer
Dan it is in my “todo” list learn vim and (now I will check it “vi” too)
Neville Yes, I use Geany in PeppermintOS 32bits.
I use nano, too. I created this post because years ago I tried lo learn vim, the docs and tutorials were “raw” (even in YouTube). Right now I have no idea if it was improved because due my tight time I put vim in sleep mode and because LazyVim was mentioned in the “Void” video I remembered vim and neovim too.
To be honest, it is like git, first get full knowledge through the command and later learn GUI
Again to all, Huge thanks!
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I tried to wrap my head around vim and later neovim, but never succeeded in getting used to it.
Sooooooo, how do you guys get used to such an arcane beast? Is it even useful to me (a fiction writer, not a coder in any way, shape, or form)? I managed to understand the basics, but it all felt a bit clunky. Am I approaching it incorrectly?
Even obsidian had me stumped. I don’t like how it works. That being said, I can see how vim would increase productivity, especially for coders, but for me?
I’ve understand the various vi variations are good with large documents (e.g., no slowdowns). Still, would that matter if you have a document of ~100.000 words? Any editor, agent, or publisher I’ll contact will expect MS Word format. Now, I could have pandoc translate the document to word once finished. I guess I’m wondering what the use of vi (and all of it’s descendants) would be to me.
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I like that approach.
Sometimes it is better to learn fewer commands or options. You can use a command or a gui without having to master every option it offers… and, mastering every option is not a substitute for learning to think about what you are doing.
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I work in that way, it is like any command in Linux, you use a specific set of commands and for each one other specific set of options. The amount of options increases according the requirements to solve a problem with the command itself
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In my case for other tool with practice but when the tool is “tricky” read/watch many tutorials and start to play … the problem is if the set of tutorials are raw … 
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Hi Xander,
What I am going to write is just my point of view and what has happened to me.
Honestly, I can’t get used to it, and I think it will be difficult for me to get used to it.
How am I supposed to remember, for example, that to do a find and replace on the line where the cursor is, I have to use the command :s/<name to replace>/<new name>, but if I want to find and replace all the same names on the same line, I have to add /g at the end of the command, that is, use the command :s/<name to replace>/<new name>/g, and if I want to find and replace all the names in the file, I have to put the % symbol in the middle of :s, that is, use the command :%s/<name to replace>/<new name>/g, because if I use the same command without /g, the command :%s/<name to replace>/<new name> only changes the first name to replace on each line of the file…
But I also don’t know what the shortcuts for find and replace are in other editors and word processors (LibreOffice, VSCodium, xed, etc.).
Then vi/vim/Neovim has buffers… I haven’t even gotten to that chapter yet!
So why am I “racking my brain” with Neovim?
Why not? I keep my brain very active while using the editor, I have to constantly learning, and when you think you know a little bit about the program, you realize you don’t know anything, because vim/vim/neovim/ are a whole “world”, but all this effort to work with the editor simply boils down to the fact that, deep down, I’m entertained and I like what I’m doing.
When I get tired of it, I’ll switch to another editor.
I work with Obsidian and I really like it, but it depends on how you work with it.
I use it as a normal markdown editor and renderer with links between files, little more than that, synchronized between devices.
You might ask me, “What about Neovim? Why don’t you create .md files in Neovim?”
The simple answer is: different programs for different jobs.
I use Obsidian a lot on my smartphone, and the file interconnection is excellent.
There are Joplin and LogSeq,maybe others, but again, it’s a matter of taste.
Only you can answer that question, because above all else, you should use a program that you like and feel comfortable working with, not because others say it’s good and that everyone should use it.
Would seeing it be good for you? What would you gain from using it?
Don’t seek this answer from others 
Jorge
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Commonsense.
Previous experience comes into it. I am comfortable with those old Ex commands in vi, because I once used Ex. They are also similar to sed. … but for a new user today they are arcane and difficult to remember.
The one aspect of vi that other editors should follow is the two modes … command mode and insert mode. That simplifies keyboard mappings because if you are in command mode every key can be a command without needing to be Alt’d or Ctrl’d.
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