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Bram Moolenaar was a Dutch software engineer who created Vim, the widely used text editor, first released in 1991 and maintained by him for over 30 years. He asked Vim users to donate to children in Uganda through the charity ICCF Holland. He died in 2023.
Biography
Background
Moolenaar studied electrical engineering at Delft University of Technology and worked on software for photocopiers at Océ.
Vim
In 1988 he began adapting the Stevie editor for his Amiga computer, aiming to imitate the Unix vi editor. He released Vim (“Vi IMitation”, later “Vi IMproved”) in 1991. It added multiple undo, syntax highlighting and scripting and became standard on Linux and macOS.
Charityware
After volunteering in Uganda, he made Vim “charityware”, encouraging users to donate to ICCF Holland, which supports children affected by AIDS.
Later life
He worked at Google from 2006 and kept developing Vim until shortly before his death in August 2023. The Vim community continued the project.
Timeline
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1988
Begins Vim on the Amiga
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1991
First public release
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1994
Volunteers in Uganda
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1998
Vim 5 with syntax highlighting
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2006
Joins Google
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2016
Vim 8
-
2023
Dies; Vim 9.0 era
-
2023
Died
Notable works
-
1991
Vim Text editor
Did you know?
-
1
Typing “:help uganda” in Vim shows the charity message.
-
2
Vim was first written for the Amiga.
-
3
Exiting Vim is a famous programming joke.
Connections
Frequently asked
Who is Bram Moolenaar?
Bram Moolenaar was a Dutch software engineer who created Vim, the widely used text editor, first released in 1991 and maintained by him for over 30 years. He asked Vim users to donate to children in Uganda through the charity ICCF Holland. He died in 2023.
When did Bram Moolenaar die?
Bram Moolenaar died on 3 August 2023.
Where is Bram Moolenaar from?
Bram Moolenaar was born in Lisse, Netherlands.
What is Bram Moolenaar known for?
Bram Moolenaar is best known for Creating Vim (1991); charityware for Uganda.
References
- Bram Moolenaar — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. www.moolenaar.net. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Bram Moolenaar (Q92885) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Bram Moolenaar”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Bram Moolenaar.” TrackFame, last updated 4 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/bram-moolenaar
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