● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportLow impact1 negative
Neovim criticized for breaking Vim's persistent undo feature and data handling
Key points
- Neovim changed the format of persistent undo files.
- It deleted existing Vim undo files without conversion or renaming.
- This resulted in data loss for users of both Vim and Neovim.
- Developers stated the format was unstable and not to be relied upon.
Persistent Undo in Vim
David Chisnall, a computer scientist, highlighted the importance of Vim's persistent undo feature, which he has used for approximately 20 years. This feature allows users to recover deleted content or revert changes made days or weeks prior, even after closing and reopening files or system reboots. It adheres to Raskin's First Law, which states that a program should not harm a user's data.
Neovim's Incompatible Change
Upon trying Neovim, a fork of Vim, Chisnall discovered that its undo functionality was broken. Neovim had altered the format of persistent undo files, deleted existing Vim undo files, and replaced them with a format that Vim could not read. This action led to the loss of his undo history in both Neovim and subsequently in Vim.
Developer Response and User Trust
When Chisnall reported the issue, he was informed by Neovim developers that the persistent undo format was unstable and users should not depend on data preservation within a feature explicitly named 'persistent undo.' This response, coupled with the data loss, led Chisnall to conclude that Neovim's developers lacked a concept of duty of care to their users, causing him to cease using the editor.
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Primary sources
GitHub neovim/neovim.github.ioReporting from
A computer scientist criticized Neovim for deleting and replacing Vim's persistent undo files with an incompatible format, leading to data loss. This action and the developers' response were seen as a failure to uphold a duty of care to users.