That version of vim doesn't support syntax highlighting at all. No
point in trying further. Really, it sounds like it's time to do a
backup of your data and reinstall the OS. That would probably take you
an afternoon and it sounds like you've spent a lot more time dealing
with the symptoms. ;-)

I actually feel like laughing, because its more hopeless than you think, my friend :)
The sound, the audio - of any device, wouldn't come on when I first installed
Gutsy, including ChucK. I tried many things then which I don't remember now,
for weeks. Nothing worked. One fine day, it just worked by itself, I don't even
know how.

This is like a fork, or a spork, where both paths lead to the same nowhere.
(Okay, sorry about going off-topic, but.....damn. )

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