Basic .vimrc, plus mapping F5 and F6 to next and previous error. Also makes potentially problematic whitespace characters obvious in a nice-looking, unobtrusive way.
syntax on
filetype plugin indent on
set background=dark
set showcmd " Show (partial) command in status line.
set showmatch " Show matching brackets.
set ignorecase " Do case insensitive matching
set smartcase " Do smart case matching
set incsearch " Incremental search
set autowrite " Automatically save before commands like :next and :make
set hidden " Hide buffers when they are abandoned
set mouse=a " Enable mouse usage (all modes) in terminals
set list listchars=tab:»·,trail:·,nbsp:·
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
" Be explicit about this because Debian is stupid
set modeline
map <F5> :cn<CR>
map <F6> :cN<CR>