set expandtab in .vimrc not taking effect : <p>For some reason the <code>set expandtab</code> command in my <code>.vimrc</code> file is not having any effect.</p>

<p>Here is my <code>.vimrc</code>:</p>

<pre><code>" tab settings
set expandtab
set smarttab
set softtabstop=2
set tabstop=2
set shiftwidth=2
set paste
</code></pre>

<p>However, when I run <code>vi</code> (no file name) the <code>:set</code> command emits:</p>

<pre><code>:set
--- Options ---
  helplang=en         shiftwidth=2        ttyfast
  paste               tabstop=2           ttymouse=xterm2
  fileencodings=ucs-bom,utf-8,default,latin1
</code></pre>

<p>which indicates that the <code>expandtab</code> option is not set. This is further confirmed by executing <code>:set expandtab?</code> which returns with <code>noexpandtab</code>.</p>

<p>I'm on OSX 10.10, and <code>vi --help</code> returns:</p>

<pre><code>$ vi --version
VIM - Vi IMproved 7.4 (2013 Aug 10, compiled Jun 20 2016 11:11:25)
MacOS X (unix) version
Included patches: 1-1847
Compiled by Homebrew
</code></pre>

<p>How come some settings in my .vimrc are being honored, but not <code>set expandtab</code>?</p>
