MX Linux Forum

1) What is the name of the best and most forward compatible editor.?

2) What editor do you actually use and what is the reason for it.?

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1: That is what I am trying to figure out with this subject.

2: I use Gedit because it was my first Linux editor and I guess I am a bit romantic about it. I also have a script connected with it but that is no big deal except the name of the command is "ged" and I have fun with that. In Denmark 'ged' means 'goat' and if something goes wrong a Dane might say in slang that there went goat in it. I think the name is good because it reminds me that I can really fast make a lot of goat in Linux with my editor.

I am a survivor of the great emacs vs vim wars , and you have no idea what a can of worms/ Asian land war you getting involved in.

I mostly use featherpad these days.
I never got in the vim/emacs war because I'd already been through the WordStar/WordPerfect wars a decade earlier.
If you like WordStar commands, Joe is an editor that uses those same commands. AFAIK nobody has ever tried to recreate the Function key memorization mess that was WordPerfect.

Vim. For light GUI work, Mousepad or Leafpad, but I don't like to have to use the mouse for editing text files. (Featherpad is OK, but I don't need that much power for my use case.) Don't be fooled into thinking that GVim is a GUI text editor. It's just Vim in a GUI window instead of a terminal shell.

I understand that Vim seems impossible for the uninitiated. As a new user in 1984, I was told to use vi for some needed editing tasks (making scripts for running database queries), but I got stuck, and the only option on our system was ed/ex line editor which is even more difficult. I asked for help but was told to get a book, Unix Primer Plus. That contained everything I needed to get started down my road to power vi user (as well as power Unix/Linux user). Best book ever. You can read it on-line, or grab a getting-started-with-vim article or tutorial. You won't be sorry.

MousePad....

timkb4cq wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 9:13 pm If you like WordStar commands, Joe is an editor that uses those same commands. AFAIK nobody has ever tried to recreate the Function key memorization mess that was WordPerfect. :p

You're being a bit hard, Tim. You only needed to remember the common F-keys - the keyboard overlay did the rest. Reveal Code (Alt-F3) gave unparalleled control when editing.

Geany (Super Fast Text Editor)

Fortunately, I don't have to settle a dispute.

Up to a point I guess it is already settled in MX since I get FeatherPad as first choice when I right click on a .txt file.

If we look a all of Linux maybe mousepad is the most common.?


I do remember Word Perfect for DOS had an editor ('ed').
I used it and I liked it but I have never seen it since.
I don't think we have it in Linux.?

I remember I had a notepad. I still use it. Came with a pen and all.

I mean.. if you want to use old-fashioned stuff....

Notepad Next for a GUI editor. It's pretty new and lacks quite a few features, but on the other hand it feels pretty lightweight.

Vim for console.

KWrite in GUI, micro in Konsole :)

Jakob77 wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:44 am 1) What is the name of the best and most forward compatible editor.?

2) What editor do you actually use and what is the reason for it.?

--

1: That is what I am trying to figure out with this subject.

2: I use Gedit because it was my first Linux editor and I guess I am a bit romantic about it. I also have a script connected with it but that is no big deal except the name of the command is "ged" and I have fun with that. In Denmark 'ged' means 'goat' and if something goes wrong a Dane might say in slang that there went goat in it. I think the name is good because it reminds me that I can really fast make a lot of goat in Linux with my editor.

The best editor is the one that you like using.

Thank you for all answers.


It is not that I want tools to be old but if they have served me well I don't like to throw them away just because somebody says they are old fascioned.

So far nobody has said that about Gedit but I am thinking it might soon be time for a change anyway.


WP and it's editor for DOS were based on key control and it was so old fashioned they all said but I remember a time when others in the class had hurting necks and shoulders from the mouse and I didn't feel a thing. Poor them.

I like it simple: featherpad, mousepad

I stuck with micro. Love it, it's like nano on steroids. I even setup micro as a simple note taker as well. Wrote a script to piggy bank onto fzf. Micro is prefect for my workflow.

Jakob77 wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:44 am 1) What is the name of the best and most forward compatible editor.?

2) What editor do you actually use and what is the reason for it.?

The best editor is the one that let's you get work done. That could be a different text editor for every person, or a different text editor for a single person doing different tasks.

I like vi because it's fast, almost completely consistent between nearly every operating system, and widely available almost everywhere. When I just need to edit a config file, vi is always my go-to.

I've recently started liking Doom Emacs, a heavily-customized version of Emacs, which as most folks know is far more than just a text editor. Emacs is a comprehensive user environment that happens to be able to edit files. I just use it for org-mode and it's still pretty neat. (Outlines and lists are just plaintext files, which are small and can sync anywhere. No more vendor lock-in for my todo lists and note-keeping software!) Emacs is practically a Desktop Environment in its own right and people who love Emacs seem to have happily pulled their entire workflow inside Emacs. I still have problems copying and pasting in it.

I also really like Notepad++ which is Windows-only, but runs well under WINE and allows for managing multiple files in tabs. Geany can do the same thing, so really either one works for me and I have them both installed on my laptop.

Not to be forgotten, there are plenty more great text editors out there: joe, mg (a tiny version of Emacs that only edits text), Neovim & Helix (vi-like editors optimized for coding and IDE usage), ed (the UNIX editor, you want to know how to use this one for emergencies), and more.

It is funny and silly how small habits can grow big fast when it is about editors.

I was trying to get used to Featherpad but mainly just the save button in the left side made me explode one day and run screaming back home to my Gedit.
Gedit has the save button in the right side and it just comes so natural for the mouse to "save -->> close" instead of:
... Move up left and find the small save button...-->> ...move right...-->> ....move right..-->> ...move right...-->> close.

Ctrl-S !

CharlesV wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2023 5:19 pmCtrl-S !

Yes, but if I save with the keyboard I normally prefer 'Ctrl s'

A somewhat dissenting voice. For terminal/SSH etc. I used to use micro but I've since switched to dte (https://craigbarnes.gitlab.io/dte/releases.html ), v fast, much smaller and does all I need.

If I need a really powerful editor with all the bells and whistles (and then some), nothing beats Cudatext (https://cudatext.github.io/ ). This started life as a Sublime Text look-alike but it's now in some respects better than the original (IMO). It's not particularly easy to configure because it has a zillion options but it's enormously powerful.

Terminal:
- Tilde: https://os.ghalkes.nl/tilde/

GUI:
- Kate for more advanced stuff: https://kate-editor.org/
- Notepad Next for simple text editing: https://github.com/dail8859/NotepadNext

Vim - Weil Vim

...okay, VSCode ist auch gut ...mmhhh...

@sechsstein The forum language is English, please post in English, unless you are in the German subforum (which this is not), thank you.

jEdit
http://www.jedit.org/
It runs where java runs.

The Muffin Man wrote: Mon Oct 23, 2023 10:10 pm jEdit
http://www.jedit.org/
It runs where java runs.

and it is installable via the MXPI, which is much more convenient than following the installation instructions on the homepage

Best editor I have ever come across is/was TPU ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEC_Text_ ... ng_Utility )
Unfortunately it only runs on VMS machines -- so much for that. What I really liked about it was the LEARN command, which allowed one to create virtual macros, very useful on 100K-line text. (the subject says nothing about OS limitation)

On Linux my goto editor is Gedit for WYSIWYG work, nano for one-liners.

There are more different favorite editors than I imagined.
Not easy to find the best by voting when everybody likes a different one. lol




In FeatherPad we have time and date by default in the right click menu.
Umm... pretty delicious..
I don't know if it can make me forgive the hidden save button, but it helps. ;-)





My editor script makes Gedit a lot more useful to me so if I want to compare on fair ground I think I better also make a script for FeatherPad and share it sometime.
If you have some good ideas for editor scripts feel free to bring them along here and show some code if you want to. :-)

Jakob77 wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:44 am 1) What is the name of the best and most forward compatible editor.?

2) What editor do you actually use and what is the reason for it.?

--

1: That is what I am trying to figure out with this subject.

2: I use Gedit because it was my first Linux editor and I guess I am a bit romantic about it. I also have a script connected with it but that is no big deal except the name of the command is "ged" and I have fun with that. In Denmark 'ged' means 'goat' and if something goes wrong a Dane might say in slang that there went goat in it. I think the name is good because it reminds me that I can really fast make a lot of goat in Linux with my editor.

There is only one, and that is VIM VIM VIM !!!

I use vim and CommonMark for my notes. Very portable.



If you like a gui, Obsidian is a nice editor.

Jakob77 wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 12:52 pm There are more different favorite editors than I imagined.
Not easy to find the best by voting when everybody likes a different one. lol




In FeatherPad we have time and date by default in the right click menu.
Umm... pretty delicious..
I don't know if it can make me forgive the hidden save button, but it helps. ;-)





My editor script makes Gedit a lot more useful to me so if I want to compare on fair ground I think I better also make a script for FeatherPad and share it sometime.
If you have some good ideas for editor scripts feel free to bring them along here and show some code if you want to. :-)

I always been using micro. I made micro better piggy banking on fzf as fzf has a pane window option. Which I use a script to use the fzf pane window as I'm using my micro text editor. I always like to jot notes fast while in the terminal. I use this script to do exactly that as an alias I simply call it sn as in simple notes.

alias sn="cd ~/.notes && ./sn.sh"

More details here;

https://github.com/linuxllc/sn

I access it while just typing sn at anytime. Jot my notes and hit Esc to exit(fzf) and never lose my place inside my terminal. Files get saved as Markdown documentation. To search your .md files(notes) is simple with the fzf pane windows. Since you can see part of your notes. As you accumulated more notes. Well you can simply use the fzf tool to find anything fast and efficient.

I also prefer micro, although the interval for any updates is significantly longer compared to nano. However, that's not the only advantage, micro also allows changes to protected files without a password, which is only required when saving. This is much more convenient since you don't have to leave the editor. I use Sublime Text for the GUI and Bluefish for HTML.

gimcrack wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 2:22 pm I always been using micro. I made micro better piggy banking on fzf as fzf has a pane window option. Which I use a script to use the fzf pane window as I'm using my micro text editor. I always like to jot notes fast while in the terminal. I use this script to do exactly that as an alias I simply call it sn as in simple notes.

alias sn="cd ~/.notes && ./sn.sh"

More details here;

https://github.com/linuxllc/sn

I access it while just typing sn at anytime. Jot my notes and hit Esc to exit(fzf) and never lose my place inside my terminal. Files get saved as Markdown documentation. To search your .md files(notes) is simple with the fzf pane windows. Since you can see part of your notes. As you accumulated more notes. Well you can simply use the fzf tool to find anything fast and efficient.

Thank you. It warms my soul when people give me what I ask for. :-)
If you have made a presentation of the script in another subject I would like the link so I can dig in deeper there instead of here.
I don't think it is relevant for my FeatherPad script because software has to be installed.
A main reason for my converting work is that I want it all to be clean MX.
But I still want to try to make it work and really understand the point. And I can't see micro so I don't think it works completely like it is supposed to.
When I execute the script (sn.sh) in Terminal I get some files in the left side and the content of the chosen one can be seen in the right side. So if I forgot the file name but remember the content I can browse quickly. Is that most of it.? :-)

Do you even have micro install? You still can use FeatherPad as your text editor if you like. Just edit the script. Replace micro to featherpad.

"micro" "$file_to_edit"

to

"featherpad" "$file_to_edit"

After running the script you press Enter to enter your text editor. The script is calling for micro. So micro has to be install or reedit the script to call for featherpad instead of micro or any other text editor you prefer.

gimcrack

Yes, and it works well enough now. I can double click on a filename to open it in the editor.
And I can see the purpose with micro when you want to stay in Terminal.
A sweet little editor script. :-)









I have been scanning the subject to determine if it is FeatherPad or Geany that is the most popular Editor among the MX users. It is close race with a poor amount of statistic observations but if there are no objections I claim it to be FeatherPad.

"I can see the purpose with micro when you want to stay in Terminal."

Plus I bring my sn script up with a simply typing out sn of how I got my setup. No need for a .desktop shortcut icon to click on.

I also got the script in a directory with the .md text notes at the same location. Same location, easy to find and search.