Bug#784268: vim-tiny should provide vim alternative

[Lennart Sorensen]

Package: vim-tiny
Version: 2:7.4.712-2
Severity: wishlist

It would be really useful if vim-tiny was put back to providing a vim
alternative link.  The current setup is illogical and confusing (rather
contrary to the changelog entry from 2008 that claimed this state was
made to avoid being confusing).

The changelog entry being:
  * [f7bfa57] Don't install vim alternatives for vim-tiny.  vim-tiny is built
    to act like vi, so the vim alternative just causes more confusion than
    it's worth (by default).

The fact I install a package with vim in the name probably means I would
like the vim command to exist.  And certainly these days vim-tiny behaves
rather much as I would expect vim to behave and not at all as I expect
vi to behave.  It is a perfectly useable editor.

I am used to typing vim to edit files.  I do not type vi, because I don't
want to use some other limited functionality vi clone.  Being able to
have a nice small vim on some space limited systems and still be able
to just type vim as I always do would really be nice.  Having to type
vim.tiny is just odd and confusing.

This has been bothering me for years, but I have always just resolved
it by throwing away a bunch of disk space by installing any other vim
package to solve the problem.  Without the alternatives link for vim,
the vim-tiny package is of no use from my point of view.  It does not
give me a vim command in the path contrary to the name of the package
and it's description.  Please give us back the vim link that just makes
sense to have.  Clearly its removal has in fact been causing confusion
rather than avoiding it.

-- Package-specific info:

--- real paths of main Vim binaries ---
/usr/bin/vi is /usr/bin/vim.gtk
/usr/bin/vim is /usr/bin/vim.gtk
/usr/bin/gvim is /usr/bin/vim.gtk

-- System Information:
Debian Release: stretch/sid
  APT prefers stable-updates
  APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'stable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Foreign Architectures: i386

Kernel: Linux 3.16.0-4-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_CA.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_CA.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)

Versions of packages vim-tiny depends on:
ii  libacl1      2.2.52-2
ii  libc6        2.19-18
ii  libselinux1  2.3-2
ii  libtinfo5    5.9+20140913-1+b1
ii  vim-common   2:7.4.712-2

vim-tiny recommends no packages.

Versions of packages vim-tiny suggests:
pn  indent  <none>

-- no debconf information