How can I upgrade the *console* version of vim on OS X?

Question

I'm sure this is a newbie question, but every time I've compiled/dl'ed a new version of vim for os x, running vim on the command-line opens up the gvim app. I just want to upgrade the console version (so I can, for example, have python compiled in to use omnicomplete).

Answer 1

You can also use MacPorts to handle the installation for you. Once you've installed it, run the /opt/local/bin/vim binary. I place this in my PATH before the system binary dirs (although be aware that this may cause problems for cmdline tools that rely on the versions of tools shipped with OS X).

Answer 2

If I understsood the question correcty, here is another solution: check out http://www.andrewvos.com/2011/07/23/upgrading-vim-on-os-x-with-homebrew/

Really simple, fast, painless. It uses homebrew-alt and you also need to have mercurial installed (it will prompt you if not).

Answer 3

This may sound stupid, but are you copying the vim binary to /usr/bin? by default, the "vim" path is /usr/bin/vim. If you compile from source, you'll likely need to either copy the vim binary to /usr/bin/vim (thus overwriting the original vim), or launch the compiled version via absolute path (eg. ~/vim-checkout/build/vim).

that's just a guess, however. I can't see it being anything more than that.

Answer 4

With Homebrew:

brew install macvim
ln -s /usr/local/bin/mvim /usr/local/bin/vim

Answer 5

Can also symlink your new binary to /usr/local/bin/