Vim Classic debuts with its first release as a Vim fork without AI assistance
Vim Classic has launched its first stable version, 8.3.0, as a fork of Vim without AI-generated code. The development team chose an older version to simplify the codebase, which results in compatibility issues with some modern plugins. The project was initiated by Drew DeVault in response to concerns over generative AI and aims to maintain a charityware model.
- ▪Vim Classic 8.3.0 is based on Vim 8.2.0148 to avoid the complexities of the Vim9 Script engine.
- ▪The fork breaks compatibility with several modern plugins due to its older codebase.
- ▪Drew DeVault started the project out of opposition to generative AI and its implications.
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A new fork of Vim, dubbed Vim Classic, has successfully launched its first stable version, 8.3.0, completely free of code generated by LLMs. freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: "neowin_incontent_all_devices", slotId: "neowin_incontent_all_devices" }); The development team based Vim Classic 8.3.0 on Vim 8.2.0148 because they wanted to dodge the heavy maintenance footprint of the newer Vim9 Script engine. They selected this older baseline to keep the codebase simple, although this decision breaks compatibility with several modern plugins. We elected to clean up this version of Vim, prepare it for a release, and imagine an alternate history where Vim 8.3 was released without Vim9 script. The result is Vim Classic 8.3.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Neowin.
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