Unable to install most recent gvim 8.1 on Ubuntu

Question

On Ubuntu, when I do vim --version in the terminal I get:

VIM - Vi IMproved 8.1 (2018 May 18, compiled Jan 6 2019 14:05:44)

Included patches: 1-699

However, when I do gvim --version I get:

VIM - Vi IMproved 8.0 (2016 Sep 12, compiled Apr 10 2018 21:31:58)

Included patches: 1-1453

In trying to update the Vim version underneath my gvim installation, I thought it would be as simple as re-installing gvim with sudo apt-get install gvim. However, that gives me:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package gvim is a virtual package provided by:
vim-gtk 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1
vim-athena 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1
vim-gtk3 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1
You should explicitly select one to install.

E: Package 'gvim' has no installation candidate

That is, only the gvim version that I already have installed appears as available to me. At the official page I found mentions of how to install gvim8.1 for Windows, but not for Linux.

So, how could I update gvim to 8.1? Thanks!

Answer 1

I was actually able to update gvim to 8.1 on Ubuntu 18 by following the same as this question asked in the past about older versions: https://askubuntu.com/questions/875003/ubuntu-16-10-repository-providing-vim-8

Basically, I followed the first option pointed by that answer:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/vim
sudo apt update
sudo apt install vim

After doing the above, gvim --version gives me:

VIM - Vi IMproved 8.1 (2018 May 18, compiled Jan 07 2019 10:34:10)
Included patches: 1-744
Modified by [email protected]
Compiled by [email protected]
Huge version with GTK3 GUI. Features included