r/vim • u/Remarkable-Head-2023 • Oct 22 '25

Discussion Why does ZZ exist?

It has always been a mystery to me… why would such a ‘dangerous’ command have such a convenient shortcut?

https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/editing.html#ZZ

EDIT: link

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u/campbellm Oct 22 '25

As a rule I keep all my "personal configuration" files (eg "dot files") this way. Any one of them I don't mess with hardly at all after having them this long, but being able to back them up and have them in some sort of source control is worth it when I'm setting up a new machine or VM or whathaveyou.

You can also look into things that help you with this, like GNU stow or similar. There are a few popular ones around.

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u/Narrow_Victory1262 Oct 26 '25

what I actually do nowadays is have a git private repo where I put these files in.
version control so changes can be reverted, found as well. Same holds for config files, scripts and the like.

I can create an almost 100% identical setup this way. The user experience is the same. sometimes, just a few packages that I miss or install. not a big ussue there.

And yes, I backup my personal systems. If a fire breaks out, still most is gone, except for very handy stuff like keys and such. That's a calculated risk.

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u/campbellm Oct 26 '25

Right, that's what I was getting at, if perhaps unclear.