If you recompile vim to link against X, and your X libs are not on the root partition, you will no longer have an editor for use in emergencies. You may choose to install an additional editor, not link vim against X, or move the current vim executable to the /bin directory under a different name such as vi. Install Vim by running the following commands: echo '#define SYS_VIMRC_FILE "/etc/vimrc"' >> src/feature.h && echo '#define SYS_GVIMRC_FILE "/etc/gvimrc"' >> src/feature.h && ./configure --prefix=/usr \ --with-features=huge && make && make install