[OT(?)] Ubuntu 18 vim now defaults to 4-space tabs

[Eli the Bearded]

In comp.lang.python, Tobiah  <toby at tobiah.org> wrote:
>> Your subject missed a critical word: vim.
> It's there!

I added it.

> > Run vim. Then ':set' to see what's set different than default. Then,
> > if it is tabstop you want to know about, ':verbose set tabstop?' will
> > tell you where that setting was last altered.
> 
> Nothing that seems to point to space indent:
> 
> 
>    background=dark     hlsearch            ruler               smartcase           ttyfast  
> wildmenu
>    helplang=C.         ignorecase          scroll=36           smartindent        
> ttymouse=xterm2   nowrap
>    hidden              modified            showcmd           nostartofline         wildcharm=^Z

Since it does not appear to have "filetype=python" in there, maybe I
should have specified "Run vim with a .py filename".

I tried vim on a new account on a NetBSD machine and saw much different
settings today.

:set
--- Options ---
  autoindent          langnoremap         suffixesadd=.py
  comments=b:#,fb:- nolangremap           syntax=python
  display=truncate    nrformats=bin,hex   ttimeout
  expandtab           ruler               ttimeoutlen=100
  filetype=python     scroll=11           ttyfast
  helplang=en         scrolloff=5         ttymouse=xterm
  history=200         shiftwidth=4        wildignore=*.pyc
  incsearch           showcmd             wildmenu
  keywordprg=pydoc    softtabstop=4
[... long options omitted ...]

:verbose set shiftwidth? softtabstop? expandtab?
  shiftwidth
       Last set from /[...]/vim/vim81/ftplugin/python.vim line 118
  softtabstop=4
       Last set from /[...]/vim/vim81/ftplugin/python.vim line 118
  expandtab
       Last set from /[...]/vim/vim81/ftplugin/python.vim line 118

Looks like the culprit there.

> I'll check with a vim specific group.  Thanks!

I see you posted to the vim-users list. For those following along, they
suggested it's newer vim "no .vimrc file" defaults kicking in. That's
something that I usually manage to avoid by having a vimrc which is
possibly why I was unable to duplicate it on my regular accounts.

Elijah
------
really dislikes vim's mouse handling