Quote Originally Posted by luis_lupe
But I'm only using console mode. The computer where I'm running Knoppix only has 32 MB of memory.

Still, there should be a way to have vim with syntax highlighting on in console mode.
Sorry, I was not clear in my post. I mean that the "console" compiled version of vim probably doesn't have syntax highlighting compiled in. E.g. type ":ver" from within your vim and see if you have "+syntax" or "-syntax". You probably have "-syntax" but if you download and install kvim then "+syntax" will now be turned on (even when you run vim in the console). Note that kvim is just a link to vim which starts vim with the "-g" for gui switch. So when you install kvim you are just installing a bigger vim with more compiled in features. Of course, you won't be running kvim because you will not be running X11.