Vim Plugin Management with Vundle

Vundle is a open source package management utility that aims to be a one stop tool for searching, trying and installing plugins. “Vundle is short for Vim bundle…” as documented in the about section of the project homepage at github. The project can be found at [gmarik/vundle]. The quick start requires git to clone vundle and then subsequently you will need to configure the .vimrc file, this file is usually found in a users home folder. The dot at the front of the .vimrc file indicates it is a hidden file. Each operating system has a different way to make hidden files visible, however usage of .vimrc file in vim is a common practice, further information can be found in the vim wiki about .vimrc file page. Completing the installation will enable the following commands in vim.

:BundleInstall – Required to initially install the tool.
:BundleSearch – Allows for searching for plugins. You can install them inline within the search to try them out, however the .vimrc file is not modified by the installation.

Plugin List

• Xml.Vim – Editing xml with this plugin is made easier with shortcuts, automatic tag completion, and functionality to keep the xml syntactically correct. (REMEMBER: file being edited must be “.xml”)
• XmlPretty – Formats the xml in a file. (REMEMBER: file being edited must have be “.xml”)
• fugitive.vim – Git integration with vim, a lot of features.
• gitv – builds on fugitive to allow browsing all diffs in the history of commits within a git repo.
• NERDTree – File Browser integration allowing for easy navigation and opening of files from within vim.

Prallel: DevOps Practices and Matthew 7:3

In a recent article by Michael Stanhke, he specifies that one of the practices of a DevOps culture includes "Admit Failure, Build Trust". This got me thinking about how similar DevOps intends to be the embodiment of teachings in the bible about human interaction. His article can be found here: ""Day 12 - Devops is a Mindset; a Cultural Case Study" on SysAdvent.

DevOps is a movement for improving the cultural interactions of technologists. Especially those of different distinct roles, for example developers and operations persons.

Matthew 7:3 - This is part of the bible, an individual sentence in the teaching of Jesus, in the well known section "Sermon on the mount".  The American Standard Version provides the following translation: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

In Michael's blog post the "Admit Failure, Build Trust" section says the following:

Post-mortem meetings were a major exercise in blame-storming. I decided that instead of redirecting blame or telling customer groups to design for failure, I would just own the failure. I walked in and said, “hey, we totally screwed up,” continuing with a prepared statement in how we misconfigured some enterprise storage and totally blew up many lines of business when it went wrong. 

The response was amazing. People were left with “oh...um ok then.” No blame and no problems. Honesty panned out! That success drove me to run every post-mortem like that: If was our fault, we shouted it. 

Transparency builds trust.

These type of writings help to bridge the gap between the theological and practical in the work place. Along with bringing truth documented about 2000 years ago into the presence.  Both are difficult to accomplish.  Being part of the DevOps movement as a DevOps Engineer myself and being a believer in Jesus, I appreciate the parallels, maybe you do too. Comments welcome on this post.