README_vms.txt for version 7.4 of Vim: Vi IMproved. This file explains the installation of Vim on VMS systems. See "README.txt" in the runtime archive for information about Vim. Most information can be found in the on-line documentation. Use ":help vms" inside Vim. Or get the runtime files and read runtime/doc/os_vms.txt to find out how to install and configure Vim with runtime files etc. To compile Vim yourself you need three archives: vim-X.X-rt.tar.gz runtime files vim-X.X-src.tar.gz source files vim-X.X-extra.tar.gz extra source files Compilation is recommended, in order to make sure that the correct libraries are used for your specific system. Read about compiling in src/INSTALLvms.txt. To use the binary version, you need one of these archives: vim-XX-exe-ia64-gui.zip IA64 GUI/Motif executables vim-XX-exe-ia64-gtk.zip IA64 GUI/GTK executables vim-XX-exe-ia64-term.zip IA64 console executables vim-XX-exe-axp-gui.zip Alpha GUI/Motif executables vim-XX-exe-axp-gtk.zip Alpha GUI/GTK executables vim-XX-exe-axp-term.zip Alpha console executables vim-XX-exe-vax-gui.zip VAX GUI executables vim-XX-exe-vax-term.zip VAX console executables and of course vim-XX-runtime.zip runtime files The binary archives contain: vim.exe, ctags.exe, xxd.exe files, but there are also prepared "deploy ready" archives: vim-XX-ia64.zip GUI and console executables with runtime and help files for IA64 systems vim-XX-axp.zip GUI and console executables with runtime and help files for Alpha systems vim-XX-vax.zip GUI and console executables with runtime and help files for VAX systems GTK builds need LIBGTK library installed. These executables and up to date patches for OpenVMS system are downloadable from http://www.polarhome.com/vim/ or ftp://ftp.polarhome.com/pub/vim/