patch -Np1 -i ../vim-&vim-version;.patch: This patch fixes a compile problem with GCC-3.2. make CPPFLAGS=-DSYS_VIMRC_FILE=\\\"/etc/vimrc\\\": Setting this will cause vim to look for the /etc/vimrc file that contains the global vim settings. Normally this file is looked for in /usr/share/vim, but /etc is a more logical place for this kind of file.