Move Over Vim - The Nano and Micro Editors Are Here!

[@phrtao]

For me Nano is the kind of thing that you need to learn in its default configuration. The real beauty of Nano is that you can almost guarantee that it will be available on any system in any situation so getting used to a fancy config might not be a good idea.

[@sugaryhull9688]

I used Nano for a long time before finally switching to Vim. Vim is definitely more powerful, but Nano isn't horrible. It gets the job done, and I don't blame anyone for using it instead of Vim

[@lordofthemound3890]

From what I’ve read, Nano is based on (essentially a clone of) the Pico editor-the editor than accompanied the mail client Pine. Pico was functionally based on MicroEMACS (in the ‘70s and ‘80s there were many “Emacs”). Linus Torvalds still uses MicroEMACS to this day, even though it hasn’t had a release since 1996. In a recent interview he stated that he’d like to use something more current, “probably Nano.” It’s funny that they’ve come full circle with the naming scheme: MicroEMACS>Nano>Pico>Micro.

[@amydebuitleir]

I tried vim for a year, but got fed up with always typing "i" in places that weren't vim. I didn't want to go down the path of configuring every other piece of software to use vim key bindings, so I switched to emacs. I've been using emacs fairly happily, with nano for quick edits. Been meaning to try micro.

[@Little-bird-told-me]

I have always struggled with nano and its unintuitive keybindings. This video was so very useful.

[@urmensch12]

Config files are the only Text files i work with and for that i Just love my Nano.

[@oldforestroad]

Have used Nano for years for quick editing, and even some writing; love it. Will check out Micro. Thank you OTB.

[@collinvisser7108]

Nice thx - Been using vim for a long time but it is nice to see a new kid on the block.

[@MartinKuhlen]

Very helpful video. Thanks OTB!

[@RobBoudreau]

Very nice to see Micro getting some notice. It's a really nice, easy to use editor. I'd been using Vi/Vim for over 25 years, last year I decided to see what else was available and came across Micro. I use it now for all my quick edits. For heavy-duty stuff I still use Vim (Neovim now), but for minor script and config edits I use Micro. I have it set as my default $EDITOR. Hope Arwen hasn't been too tough on you Steve. Looking at the news it looks a bit nasty. Stay safe.

[@OldTechBloke]

Cheers Rob

[@zen-ventzi-marinov]

what slows you down opening single files with neovim? I find it quite fast, even with a lot of plugins(or distros such as AstroNvim or NVChad or other)

[@zoinkshaggy]

Great video. I used both of these text editors before. I used nano for a long time. Recently I have been using helix. It's similar to vim, but much easier to configure. It has a lot of really good defaults. Sorry if I posted this before. I've been having issues with my comments not going through. I really enjoy your content.

[@porky1118]

Vim should not be the default terminal editor for beginner distros. When someone uses git for the first time, and forgets to enter the commit message (-m), they are locked into vim and don't know how to get out. Most people probably just don't know, what happened, close the terminal and try it again. Nano is better, which already is the default on some systems, but I think, micro is just the best terminal editor for most users, since it just works like most non-terminal editors.

[@AndersJackson]

How to exit vim? Reboot the machine. :-) (To be fair, that was what I did the first experiance with Emacs.) Emacs, Eight Megabyte And Constantly Swaping. Emacs, using Linux as a boot loader. (I like this one) Emacs, a great OS with a lousy Editor. :-) Yes, I am a Emacs full time user myself. Nano are ok, but I prefere Emacs TRAMP mode, so I never need to install Emacs and my Emacs config on other machines. Also great if I want to edit files as root with sudo.

[@CaptainWumbo]

vim being the default editor is the greatest vim evangelist we have. "what is this, should I learn more?" dont take that away from us

[@porky1118]

​@@CaptainWumboI guess, that kind of has the opposite effect. "What is this? Why am I stuck in an editor, that doesn't work? Oh, it's called Vim? Let me just change it and never use it again..."

[@AndersJackson]

@@CaptainWumbo nano is usually the default editor now. And bash uses Emacs shortcuts by default. Like C-a, C-e, C-b, M-b, C-f, M-f, C-p, C-n and C-r. As just some examples. So you already knows the Emacs basics key bindings then. :-)

[@runwiththedolphin]

well now I'm going to have to have a custom nano setup stored back with the rest of my bash configs. thanks!

[@trueriver1950]

When doing a Gentoo install their online tutorials all use nano for all the edits. (Of course many of their users will substitute vi or >coff< emacs at that point) When I was working as a programmer I used vi rather than an IDE, but even though my fingers know the vi keys I now usually use nano. What I do still revert to vi for would be a repetitive multiple edit -- but that is rarer now I usually only edit config files... So I have gone the other way to OTB, from vi to nano

[@drpainsjourney]

OMG! - I just love this nano config! - I don't use nano much at all, normaly I use notepadqq, since I can use that on windblows if needed. So much thank you for this little gem!

[@taxaction1]

Thanks OTB for the info. Interesting stuff, I might jazz nano up a little if I get time. Good to know this stuff.

[@chrisheater4118]

I am certain that vim is very powerful. I do not spend enough time in a text editor to warrant learning it right now. Micro is my editor of choice.

[@zaharib]

Great presentation, OTB 😊

[@act.13.41]

I have been using Micro for a while now and I like it more than anything else. I am not, nor will I ever be a VIM user.

[@shutdowncnn6086]

Excellent video. Your nano video is a keeper for training reference! Like you It took me years to really feel comfortable with Vim. Nano is the default editor on Gentoo were editing on Gentoo is a religion. Gentoo recommends not uninstalling nano from the Gentoo system. I have found were vim really shines is in Visual Mode. From NORMAL MODE esc first if you hit v your in Visual, if you hit ^+v that is Ctrl + v your in Visual Block, lets say you want to remove the FIRST FIVE letters on 500 lines of text. Just position the vim block cursor on your starting point then, Ctrl + v then move the block cursor left or right five characters with the arrow or letter keys down 500 lines to your end point, hit the d key once and the letters are gone. Can you imagine moving one by one through each line and deleting? :) I wish you and all you Brits a Very Happy New Year ! I use to fly several routes from the US states to London Heathrow. Retired Pilot (CA)

[@OldTechBloke]

Cheers and happy new year

[@SwiatLinuksa]

Thx for that!

[@jeffreyplum5259]

I write lots of text, mostly fiction for myself. Nano is looking better all the time, when tuned up. I also want to do more work remotely. Nano and things like midnight commander make working by SSH a real option. No need to use VNC or x2g0 and a full desktop. I want to explore Docker and clustering. Nano seem right for headless nodes, where a desktop may be overkill. I used DOS for decades. I prefer editing plain text. Many thanks foor these new options.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Thank you for this interesting video - and for being a reputable Linux YT creator that isn't shilling for hits over that completely exaggerated Linus Tech Tips nonsense.

[@glidersuzuki5572]

Who is like that anyway?

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@glidersuzuki5572 You don't have to look far to find them - but I am not doing "homework" that you set me either, you can go do the searching.

[@glidersuzuki5572]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 you could've typed out some names instead of this pointless comment and making it like a homework

[@RHTORAS]

Very Very informative. I would like more videos like this. Also if you could show us obarun linux would be appreciated. Greetings from Greece.

[@baaz5642]

Micro is awesome I suggest the Dracula theme for it too it's cool

[@retroelectrons2]

Have been using nano for several years.

[@trueriver1950]

Ctrl-X for exit is an EMACS thing of course... one which long predates the use of ctrl-X for cut which I think was originally a windoze thing originally

[@kozas0]

It's Ctrl-X Ctrl-C for Emacs' exit. Ctrl+X is just a prefix in Emacs that has a ton of functionality underneath, like Ctrl-X D, for Dired mode, Ctrl-X Ctrl-; to comment current line and so on.

[@trueriver1950]

@@kozas0 thanks, I sit corrected - I've never used Emacs, as was maybe obvs. For complicated edits I use vi / vim and for simple ones I use nano.

[@kozas0]

@@trueriver1950 No worries. Emacs isn't that hard as some people make it sound btw. And it even has a Vi compatible mode ("evil mode") where you can use pretty much the same keybinds as Vi.

[@spy.catcher]

was ages ago when pressing Ctrl-alt instantly pops the sidekick text editor. nano and micro feels like wordstar. non-modal editors are for those minor edits and short single-file configs and maybe short essays. for multi-window editing and very fast navigation over lengthy codes on the terminal, vim and tmux is still hard to beat. the lazy and the impatient should stay away from it though

[@paulspl2581]

I don't understand the fuss over vim. The modular key chords van easily be reproduced and the visual/insert modes are just annoying to be frank. Also the fact that it's considered to be lightweight is such an old myth lol

[@jmsolorzano13]

How use copy-paste in micro... doesn't work.. :(

[@Sub0x-x40]

micro is so good has been a game changer. if i just want to quickly change config files micro is the one and i just really dislike nano for some reason

[@RobMoerland]

I started programming using ed on a teletype, but when a VT100 was a available I could use vi. Its commands must be conquered one by one. To me nano is counter intuitive.

[@OldTechBloke]

Each to their own

[@JacksonBenete]

Some months ago I worked in an entire toy project coding with ed(1) alone. Call me crazy but I felt really productive with it. :) I used less(1) sometimes to have an overview of the file, and for eventual debugging I opened the file in XCode or VSCode, but most of the time I was editing source code with ed(1) and I was having a blast.

[@momomaniac1234]

Sir 😃 I'm glad you made this video i was actually looking for an editor to use instead of Vim editor because i found if complicated to use I'll look for micro that i discovered to day here in the video in the package list of the distribution i use and I'll try it if i find it i hope it will help me to edit config files of window mangers efficiently I'm doing window managers test to see what window manager suit my needs because i still can't use awesome wm well and i lost in herbsluft wm i ignore how to add polybar and rofi to it By the way I'm a super fan of nano i like it so much it feel comfortable and friendly

[@robertcoyle9071]

Make a printed cheat sheet of vim use. There are times its the only thing available. Or if you accidentally get stuck in it :D . Any nix system you're guaranteed to have vim.

[@thelimatheou]

It's great to have choices - of course...but those who try to argue VIM or Emacs are too hard need to admit they're just lazy and can't be bothered reading doco for more than a few minutes

[@OldTechBloke]

The problem is that the docs and the vintutor are very boring. So why bother if you don’t need the functionality? Everyone takes the path of least resistance unless it’s something that interests them. It’s not laziness it’s human nature

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

Well I'm that guy that just can't get Vim in my head. I told The Linux Cast that I have done the Vin Torture 3 time and just fail with it and I never complete it as it just doesn't make sense to me. I have use Nano for a basic text editor forever. Damn I never knew that it had a config file but I should have known... LOL I will investigate it... I do spend a lot of time in a editor and it is Xed as my GUI editor of choice. Mousepad or Pluma is ok too for GUI. For CLI for that fast one line change I use Nano. :) I will give Micro a go and see what I think of it. I'm sure I will like it cause OTB said it was good.. Lol Lol Lol Thanks OTB! You awesome... HahahAhA LLAP

[@OldTechBloke]

Thanks Bruce, but I bet I get a lot of thumbs down for this one :-)

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

@@OldTechBloke That most likely will happen sad to say. The Vim fans will be crawling out from everywhere... Lol If I had 6 thumbs you would have all 6 thumbs up... :-P

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

@@OldTechBloke Got the NanoRC all fixed up and I love the numbers and highlighting, it's awesome! :-) Off to get Micro and see what it's about... Thanks! LLAP

[@OldTechBloke]

Enjoy Bruce

[@mikemiller2131]

Joe is my preferred editor. vi was always unusable for me. Cannot understand why anyone use it.

[@robertcoyle9071]

Sometimes its the only thing available. Pretty much any nix system you can almost bet money that it will have vim. I don't do much outside of writing new values in config files so micro is my go to. I have a printed cheat sheet of vim use for the times I can't get around it or accidentally open a file with it.

[@mikemiller2131]

@@robertcoyle9071 for me it has become a habit to execute "apt install joe net-tools" or "yum install joe" just after any linux installation I did the last years, so for me, there is always a "joe" and "ifconfig" for me ;-)

[@robertcoyle9071]

@@mikemiller2131 as soon as i chroot into arch i grab micro because the next files are setting locale and hostname/host. Id rather not break out the cheat sheet. typically I dont bother with anything other than base install and networking tools before I have a bootable arch. there's no point in it if grub doesnt install correctly as your'e going to have to mount the partitions all over again and fix it. xorg & graphical stuff and users come after its proven to A, boot and B access the net. but to get those files squared away I would rather not have to search for vi in the middle of it because I can never remember how to change modes and save.

[@breadpirateroberts4946]

if you want something simpler than vim, theres always vi

[@OldTechBloke]

Ha ha

[@porky1118]

It's not simpler, it's just less powerful...

[@AndersJackson]

And if you think vi is to complicated, try ed(1) or even sed(1), with option -i.

[@breadpirateroberts4946]

@@AndersJackson not simple enough...i will just manually flip the bits on my processor with a magnet to edit text

[@kozas0]

Only switching from Emacs to Vim or Vi if Vim isn't available, these Tiny/Pico/Rico editors are all irritating and get into your way.

[@johnjoyce]

What about pico and ed ??? But the old adage is true one should not need to learn more that Emacs OR Vim. Nano is fine. mg and Jove are great light weight Emacs clones. I still loath but sometimes gotta use Vim.

[@crazychicken0378]

Can’t forget zile for an emacs clone either - created by GNU so still in house!

[@dougtilaran3496]

Im a Geany fanboy

[@androth1502]

meh. they're all bloat. use the editor that has reached it's final form. uemacs (linus torvald's build). i've been using uemacs since the amiga days c1980

[@topcivilian]

take off hat, mail it to me, ok? penguins will not injured in the process they are chilling with me in Antarctica address: Doctor No and Linux Penguin Friends 01010101 Open Source Road Slippery Ice-Shelf Antarctica 01010101-10101010