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Bram Moolenaar

Dutch engineer who created and maintained the Vim text editor.

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The creator, maintainer, and benevolent dictator for life of the vi-derivative text editor Vim was Dutch software engineer and activist Bram Moolenaar, who lived from 1961 until 3 August 2023.[1] Moolenaar's birthplace was Lisse, Netherlands, in 1961, and he completed his studies in electrical engineering at Delft University of Technology, earning his degree in 1985.[2][3]

Life and work

In 1988, Moolenaar purchased an Amiga computer and, familiar with vi, tested several vi clones including Stevie.[4] He also developed a software build tool called A-A-P and a programming language called Zimbu.[5] Moolenaar was a member of the Dutch Unix user group NLUUG, which gave him an award for creating Vim.[6] Moolenaar enhanced the existing Stevie source code to create his own vi clone.[4]

Released in 1992 on a Fred Fish public domain disk set, the initial version was called "Vi IMitation."[4][3] A Unix port of Vim was accomplished in 1992.[3]

What the cited sources add

Moolenaar's own account states that in February 2000, Vim won the Slashdot Beanie award for best open source text editor, pushing Emacs into second place.[3] Moolenaar founded the ICCF Holland foundation to support the Kibaale Children's Centre in Uganda.[3] In 1994, he volunteered as a water and sanitation engineer for the Kibaale Children's Centre.[7] At SFSCON 24, the Free Software Foundation Europe posthumously presented Moolenaar with the 2024 European SFS Award.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Bram Moolenaar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rehman, "The Linux development platform: configuring, using, and maintaining a complete programming environment", Prentice Hall PTR, 2003, p. 37– (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Bram Moolenaar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Proven, "RIP Bram Moolenaar: Coding world mourns Vim creator", The Register, 7 August 2023; Moolenaar, "Vim, an open-source text editor", free-soft.org, 15 January 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Moolenaar, "Vim, an open-source text editor", free-soft.org, 15 January 2002. facts only, no text reused. free-soft.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Bram Moolenaar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Moolenaar, "Vim, an open-source text editor", free-soft.org, 15 January 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Bram Moolenaar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Proven, "RIP Bram Moolenaar: Coding world mourns Vim creator", The Register, 7 August 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Bram Moolenaar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "NLUUG Award", 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Bram Moolenaar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Moolenaar, "Vim, an open-source text editor", free-soft.org, 15 January 2002; Marshall 2002, p. 103-104; Proven, "RIP Bram Moolenaar: Coding world mourns Vim creator", The Register, 7 August 2023; "An update from the Vim charity ICCF", groups.google.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Bram Moolenaar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Vim developer Bram Moolenaar posthumously receives the European SFS Award", FSFE, 2024-11-08 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bram Moolenaar (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Bram Moolenaar die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 2023.

From the source: “On 5 August 2023, Moolenaar's family announced in the Vim Google Group that Moolenaar had died two days prior, at the age of 62, because of a rapidly developing medical condition.”

2. In what year was Bram Moolenaar born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1961.

From the source: “Moolenaar was born in Lisse, Netherlands, in 1961.”

3. In which place was Bram Moolenaar born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Lisse, Netherlands.

From the source: “Moolenaar was born in Lisse, Netherlands, in 1961.”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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