this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2026
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    Which text editor do you use?

    top 50 comments
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    [–] nixx@lemmy.ca 3 points 19 hours ago

    The reasons us elders use VI is because on a new installation, it was the only thing available until:

    1. You are lucky enough to find a compiled version of PINE/PICO, or

    2. You have the compiler installed, and can get the source code and build it yourself.

    For some reason, some elitists decided that if you don't know that, then you are a failure. But honestly, when modern distros started coming out with WYSIWYG-type editors, it was a relief, even though I reverted to VI/VIM because of muscle-memory, I do not push it on new users. It's the same argument people make for driving manual vs automatic, sure it's useful, but when was the last time you even saw a manual car? (At least in North America).

    You want to live dangerously, go ahead and put NetBSD with just the basics and leave the rest of us who want to do something useful alone.

    [–] Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 day ago

    Nano because I'm too lazy to learn vim or emacs. I want something that works and not something that operates like cheat codes in old video games.

    [–] zebidiah@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

    Nano in the CLI, kate in the GUI

    I use

    1. sublime-text when not confined to a terminal
    2. nano for example with git's CLI
    3. vi/vim when the others are not available.
    [–] Digit@lemmy.today 27 points 2 days ago

    It's worse than the picture depicts. It's not just the lovers, the elitists and the evangelists, it's the sheer range of choice too, beyond the loudest.

    same cat surrounded by dozens of text editor courgettes that look like snakes

    [–] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

    Noobs get hit with friendly fire.

    [–] nonentity@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

    head n-1 > tmp && echo "line replacement" >> tmp && tail -n+1 >> tml && mv tmp orig

    [–] guy@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago

    My distro came with Nano, so here I am

    [–] crakila@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

    kate when I am using GUI and vim when I am using CLI.

    [–] Allero@lemmy.today 21 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (6 children)

    First choice: use a normal damn GUI text editor

    Second choice: Nano. It's simple and comprehensible, and a best CLI choice for newbies. You can then turn to vim, emacs, or whatever, but don't make your life harder from the get-go

    People suggesting to start with Vim are probably the same ones pushing for Arch as a first distro. C'mon.

    load more comments (6 replies)
    [–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

    I want whatever is closest to Notepad++. Honestly, KDE already comes with that built in.

    [–] ian@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago

    I think it comes with a text editor already built in. I don't need a text editor though.

    [–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)
    [–] wetsoggybread@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

    I feel called out but the only time I'm editing a file is tweaking a config or .env file and its just so simple for me

    load more comments (1 replies)
    [–] BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

    Kate master race of KDE

    [–] this@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

    All I'm gonna say is than nano is installed on almost every Linux os and has the keyboard shortcuts written on the UI.

    [–] cockmushroom@reddthat.com 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

    Who doesn't have vi/m?

    Fwiw, helix also gives visual feedback on bindings if a key is a table for mutiple bindings.

    [–] this@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

    I'm sorry I don't see how that's relevant to my point.

    I'm saying that of all the text editors, nano is the one that usually takes the least amount of effort to learn and set up. Both of those options require either learning or set up, so why would I choose them if convinience is what I'm after?

    [–] cockmushroom@reddthat.com 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

    I was just asking which distros don't have vi/m. The helix point was an aside. It wasn't combative, just curious.

    [–] this@sh.itjust.works 1 points 12 hours ago

    I wouldn't know tbh. I've never had any reason to use anything other than nano for a terminal text editor.

    [–] SigHunter@discuss.tchncs.de 102 points 3 days ago (9 children)
    load more comments (9 replies)
    [–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 87 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

    Me no love nano, me brain only can use nano.

    E macs scary. vim no let me leave :(

    load more comments (1 replies)
    [–] alexquiniou@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

    I'm using vscode.

    [–] cyclonedusk@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    i miss notepad plus plus, that's pretty much the only thing i wish i still had from before linux though.

    You and I both. I have nostalgia from years of using it in grad school for R. I found Kate is pretty close, but NPP runs fine in Bottles.

    [–] selokichtli@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

    Gedit, mousepad, geany or kate may help you forget Notepad++, which is truly great software.

    [–] plateee@piefed.social 66 points 3 days ago (2 children)

    vim, because that's how my father taught me, and how his father's father taught him.

    Choose vim! The generational trauma of file editors!

    load more comments (2 replies)
    [–] FreddyNO@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago
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