Janus VIM on Linux Mint

VIM with JanusLinux Mint claims to be the second most popular Linux distribution after Ubuntu. And it is largely based on Ubuntu/Debian. While there are many subtle differences, though, the main one is that Mint supports a broader range of desktop environments -- most notably, Gnome 3.

Janus is a package of tools that turn vanilla VIM into a powerful development environment. It is targeted at GUI versions (gvim and MacVim), and it comes with a large assortment of VIM plugins and scripts.

This short blog shows how to install Janus on a newly installed Linux Mint desktop. It assumes that you can run commands using sudo in a terminal.

Install gvim

By default, Mint ships with a minimal distribution of VIM. The first thing we want to do is update it to the GUI version. If you are running Mint with Gnome, you should install the Gnome version of VIM:

$ sudo apt-get install vim-gnome


You will also need several other tools, all of which can be installed in one long command. Some of these tools are used by Janus to build its environment. Many of them are also required by the plugins Janus provides.

$ sudo apt-get install git rake ctags ack pep curl


(Note that while curl isn't listed as a dependency on the Janus site, it is required.)

Next, we will run the Janus installer:

$ curl -Lo- http://bit.ly/janus-bootstrap | bash


This fetches a remote script and executes it as the local user. As this command executes, it will download and configure a wide variety of VIM plugins. This will take some time.

When this is finished, you should be able to launch gvim and have all of
the Janus goodies:

$ gvim


Quick Tips

Here are a few things you should know to get started with Janus:

• You can open the file browser (NERDTree) by typing \n. (You can
  close it by typing that again).
• Use CTRL-ww (that's holding down CTRL and hitting w twice) to
  cycle through frames on your current window. For example, with
  NERDTree open, you can switch back and forth between your edit window
  and NERDTree using this command.
• Keep in mind that you have THREE different copy/paste buffers in Linux +
  Janus + VIM: The usual CTRL-C/CTRL-V buffer, the X-windows mouse
  highlighting buffer, and the VIM yank buffer. This can come in very
  handy.
• Typing :h quickref will open a temporary buffer with a vast
  compendium of VIM commands. I wouldn't call it quick, but I would call
  it thorough.
• Edit: And to switch themes, choose Themes from the menu. I'm not a big fan of the default. Here's an example of an alternative:

VIM with different theme