Installing vim and gvim 7.3 on ubuntu 10.03 Lucid Lynx from source

Recently I tried to install gvim 7.3 on my Ubuntu box. While the distro has vim / gvim in its repositories, it is not the latest version. I downloaded the source file and built and compiled on my system.

Installing Vim was fairly straightforward, but I had trouble figuring out how to install gvim. I had to hunt for specific directions for gvim. I thought it would be beneficial to have instructions for both on the same page. So here it is!


GVim, while included in vim, requires additional libraries for the GUI, and certain flags must be enabled when you run 'configure'.


So here's what I did:

Download source to Vim, and unzip it. It should create a folder called 'vim73/'

____________________________________________
$cd vim73

$./configure

$make

$sudo make install

$sudo make install clean
____________________________________________

Now Vim 7.3 should be installed on your system. While running the above, you may get an error for missing dependency for ncurses-dev. You can run 'apt-get install' to get that and run the command again.


Gvim is still not installed, so you will have to do the following steps:
______________________________________________________________

$sudo apt-get install libncurses-dev libgnome2-dev \
 libgtk2.0-dev libatk1.0-dev libbonoboui2-dev libcairo2-dev \
 libx11-dev libxpm-dev libxt-dev
$cd vim73/src/
$make distclean

$./configure --with-features=huge --enable-gui=gnome2

$make

$sudo make install

______________________________________________________________

reactions.on.google's.net.neutrality.proposal

By now you all must have heard about the Google/Verizon proposal for Net Neutrality. Well lot of people weren't happy about it, as they expected more from Google. Many people pointed out that this proposal goes against the company's code of conduct of "Don't be Evil".


Google again posted its opinion and made an effort to clear up any misinformation out there. I am not sure if it had the desired effect. Comments sure do not seem very positive towards Google. Most of the backlash is against Google, not Verizon. I guess people expected Verizon to do something like this, but it hurt when Google did it. 


What do you think? Is Google justified? I mean, after all, it is a corporation, with investors and a board to please. Is it wrong for Google to protect its interests? Is it really throwing people under the bus?


I tend to be anti-corporation mostly, but I cannot make up my mind on this one. Can we not trust Google to do the right thing? I think, instead of making judgement in haste, I will take the wait-and-see approach. 

Let's see how this all plays out. I'm sure the sun will still come up tomorrow, and the internet will still be there.

ha.ha.hillarious

Did you hear? Wikileaks is going to "leak" Open Source Java Projects. A fellow blogger wrote this piece. Its hillarious! Check it out...

light.my.fire

I had my kindle for a few weeks, and I was loving it. I was reading a lot, than ever before. After finishing my work, I yearned to find time to read one of the several books I had downloaded. Yesterday, all of that came to a screeching halt. Amazon announced Kindle3 which seems superior to my Kindle2. I had a limited amount of time to decide whether to stay with K2 or move to K3. According to the return policy, I could return the K2 within 30 days and that time period was approaching fast. So I had a choice to make: Do I stick to the K2? or Do I return it and get the K3? 


The obvious PROS were that K3 is the same price, so nothing extra out of my pocket, except $3 in return shipping. K3 is:

• Smaller in actual size, however screen itself is the same. 
• Higher contrast
• Double the memory (3500 books) 
• WiFi + 3G  (WiFi only model available)
• Improved PDF support, including support for password protected PDFs
• longer battery life (30 days with Network Off/10 with it being ON)
• lighter and thinner 

They all sound like improvements to me. Also, the in K3, you have a choice of color, White or Graphite (which is what I am leaning towards!) The CONS to me were that K3 would ship on Aug 27, so about a whole month before I get my Kindle. That's a big deal, considering how I am addicted and must get my Kindle-fix at night or during lunch time everyday.Also there is still no SD Slot (with room for 3500 Books, do I really need one?), No Color (e-Ink technology) but I can live without that also. Its less distracting when reading a book. 


From what I have read, there is no ideal solution for managing your library in a Kindle. In the last software update, you could create collections and assign books to those collections. The UI in the Kindle is not ideal for that, since its very simple. I would have preferred to have created folders on the kindle (when connected via USB), where I could put my books in. Managing the library on a computer would have been much quicker. Lot of other Kindle fans are asking for this as well, so it will probably make it into the product soon, I hope. 


BTW, there is a WiFi only version of Kindle3, and its only $139. I have always felt that an Ideal price for an E-book reader is between $100 to $200 range. Amazon has certainly made the device that is full of features, and available at a low cost.  


My Decision: Return the K2 before 30 day period and wait for K3, and get reacquainted with my family (for 30days atleast!)


It was a tough choice, especially, since I took the 'Til-death-do-us-apart vow with my kindle2. In the end we decided it was best for both of us to see other objects. We'll still be friends though!

Related articles

• Kindle 3 Review (ireaderreview.com)
• Kindle 3 vs Nook, Sony Reader (ireaderreview.com)
• New Amazon Kindle (PHOTOS): Smaller, Lighter, Cheaper (huffingtonpost.com)
• Is Kindle 3 a game-ender for e-reader wars? (money.cnn.com)

Great.Ideas.Small.Steps

I have realized that after the first post, most difficult and important one is the second post.


So, as I mentioned in my last post, I like reading about StartUps and people that come up with the ideas for them. I find the steps to execution very interesting. How did they come up with the idea, what are they doing to make it work. 


I have been following a blog, lately. This guy calls himself, proudn00b, and apparently he has some Sales background, and has been around StartUps in the past. That exposure might have lit a fire where he has now quit his job, to learning programming to "build his ideas." I find his endeavor interesting, and keep up with the updates he gives everyday. I wish him luck. Entrepreneurs need to have a lot of courage, and confidence to dive head first into their work, much like this gentleman. If this type of things interests you, I advice you take a look at his site, maybe even subscribe to his blog. I would also recommend that you comment on,ask questions, and/or offer encouragement. Writing a blog doesn't have to be one-way communication, and besides, quite often, good content is in the comments :-)


While not as drastic as proudN00b, I have been meaning to take on a project to increase my learning. I have decided to tackle Sendmail. I have been meaning to do so for a very long time. I usually get bogged down by the fact that lot of learning is either too slow, where after several days/weeks I have only learned bit of theory/abstraction, but have not produced anything concrete. Or, I will pick up something where the learning is too fast. I will follow examples to get something working, but would not learn anything about the material. I would then look for the instructions again, in case I need to do the same thing. After reading the first chapter of Sendmail book by Oreilly, I feel like I can get enough out of it to run my own server, have a strong enough background for how internet mail works, and be able to repeat the process again. In any case, it should be fun. I look forward to writing about it once I am done. The idea is to not stop until I am done. ProudN00b created his blog and declared his intentions, I think, because failure is not an option. When so many people know your intentions, and are rooting for you, you will do anything in your power to make sure you don't let them down. I derived inspiration from him to set my goals and declare them to the world...because Failure Is Not An Option!


I reckon, many of you might be in the same boat as me. There are just too many things to learn, and one can get sidetracked many different ways. Take small steps, define clear goals, set a deadline, take good notes to retain what you have learned, and git'er done!


Thanks for stopping by.


Sincerely,
Sean

i.am.sean

Hi,

Nice to meet you! Thanks for coming. In this weblog (so old school, might as well call it World Wide Web log thinga-majik!) I am going to be writing my thoughts down, hopefully, you will like what I think and you will come around often. Maybe you will find that you and I aren't all that different from each other. 

I like linux, open source technology, really! I read a lot of books (on my kindle) about servers and softwares and how they came about. I love to read hackerNews, as well as other blogs about startUps or upcoming or current technologies.

  

I love reading about people starting new companies with fresh, disruptive ideas. Sometimes they make me go "Wow!" or other times, they leave me shaking my head because of utter non-sense they come up with. Either way, they deserve kudos for giving it a go! I can't imagine the type of courage it takes to do that.

I will generally write about things going on in the world of technology, StartUps, or anything new I learn. I "leech" quite a bit off of the internet, reading tutorials, or articles others have written to spread the knowledge or where someone has provided a solution to a problem, like (how do I do this? or how do I install that? etc). I want to contribute in much the same way, via this blog.

I hope I am able to help, and that you find my writing valuable.

Thanks,

Sincerely,

Sean