[mattigames]

> Not necessarily, since it’d just be a matter of popularizing Vim + the community’s preferred shortcuts as a starter instead.

There isn't that many software dev tools were a small variation in key bindings (or some similar small change) became ubiquious and propelled the popularity by adapting it to the local needs of American developers/IT (keyboard layout in this case), it's a chicken and egg problem because if Vim wasn't that popular there wouldn't be much interest in creation preferred shortcuts, so I conclude that what you suggested is not what would have happened.