Are you on which team: vim, nano, micro, er ed for you terminal based text editor?

@eager_eagle@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 17:05

micro for sensible defaults out of the box, and because I don’t like modal editors.

@originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 2026-05-02 17:05

What to do other than installing nano and changing visudo? suffer. isnt the whole point we get to use the tools we want?

Open ##1888078

@lime@feddit.nu 2026-05-02 17:07

just learn acme

Open ##1888186

@Levi@lemmy.ca 2026-05-02 17:08

Team Vim. Because I learned the vim basics once 20 years ago and never bothered to learn after that. :D

Open ##1888204

@nous@programming.dev 2026-05-02 17:08

I have switched to using helix, so no matter which distro I am on I need to change it to be my default by setting the EDITOR env var.

Open ##1888222

@Malix@sopuli.xyz 2026-05-02 17:09

For novelty I do install msedit, because nostalgia is rose tinted. But for realsies it’s vim, not because I’m good at using it, but I’m familiar enough.

Open ##1888224

@zloubida@sh.itjust.works 2026-05-02 17:12

nano for quick things; emacs for longer typing sessions.

Open ##1888301

@thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 2026-05-02 17:14

Team Neovim. I looked into ed, then decided its not for me.

Open ##1888307

@haxboar@hexbear.net 2026-05-02 17:15

I use vim. I learned it because I started on a bunch of hosts where I couldn’t install what I wanted. But unless you have a similar restriction, go ahead and install what you like. It’s a good idea to play around with others to see what they have to offer, but at the end of the day, you do you

Open ##1888328

@SrMono@feddit.org 2026-05-02 17:18

Neovim

Open ##1888462

@db2@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 17:25

github.com/microsoft/edit

Open ##1888647

@Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu 2026-05-02 17:26

Vim forever, any flavour, don’t care. Why? Does actually exist anything else for the terminal?

Open ##1888683

@Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 17:31

I only ever use a terminal based editor for making quick edits of config files, so nano works just fine for me.

Open ##1888922

@AnthropomorphicCat@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 17:31

another vote for Neovim!

Open ##1888936

@pelya@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 17:39

mcedit

Open ##1889069

@floofloof@lemmy.ca 2026-05-02 17:54

Vim for the most part, and nano for when I’m tired and can’t remember how to work vim.

Open ##1889212

@clmbmb@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-05-02 17:55

Neovim.

Open ##1889237

@Rindogang@lemmy.ml 2026-05-02 18:02

I use Helix… Uhhh idk I think it’s nice I guess

Open ##1889476

@LloydKM@feddit.org 2026-05-02 18:12

Have been using vim for the longest time, but I‘m getting into nvim :)

Open ##1889823

@smiletolerantly@awful.systems 2026-05-02 18:19

Neovim, configured entirely through nixvim. I always liked neovim, but it’s never been as incredibly stable as now with nixvim. Main/only IDE both in private and at work. Can’t ever go back, muscle memory has ensured that.

Open ##1890086

@Peasley@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 18:26

nano but i’m a casual. i can use vi/vim in a pinch. ed and emacs are totally foreign i tend to use a graphical text editor like Kate unless there is a specific reason to do it in the terminal

Open ##1890334

@Dirk@lemmy.ml 2026-05-02 18:32

A few years ago I’d say Vim but nowadays it’s Neovim for me.

Open ##1890411

@harsh3466@lemmy.ml 2026-05-02 18:37

Team vim! Learned it five or six years ago, and never looked back. I’ve also got vim motions enabled for my shell, in the browser (firefox with vimium), and in my window manager (sway).

Open ##1890448

@Andrzej3K@hexbear.net 2026-05-02 18:39

Nvim all the way

Open ##1890458

@ramius345@sh.itjust.works 2026-05-02 18:44

Emacs!

Open ##1890496

@MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2026-05-02 18:45

Exporting $EDITOR instead. Also, i don’t use sudo; too much for desktop, too insecure for server.

Open ##1890516

@iByteABit@lemmy.ml 2026-05-02 18:46

I used to use Neovim but now I mainly use Helix, it’s really good by default, the most hassle is usually just looking up an LSP for a language and installing it. My config file literally only has the theme I use, unlike the heavy configs I’d have to make so that vim/nvim are the way I want. I also like the multiple cursor approach it has to editing.

Open ##1890526

@PetteriPano@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 18:49

My first distro shipped with pico, so I often choose nano for an edit. Micro is fine, too, but I won’t go out of my way to install it. I challenged myself to write a couple of projects in neovim over a month or so. I finished my projects, but it still felt like the tool was getting in my way. Muscle memory is to break. Current job requires a bigger IDE, but I still do my commit messages with neovim.

Open ##1890572

@dparticiple@sh.itjust.works 2026-05-02 19:14

At the risk of restarting the Editor wars (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_war) from days of yore, I find it interesting that emacs wasn’t even in your list of contenders. I hear it mentioned less frequently these days, so perhaps it’s going by the wayside? For the record, I’m a vi/vim user! I had the privilege of being taught to use it by an RFC-writing greybeard decades ago, and have used it without thinking ever since. For those who find themselves on a machine with only vi/vim, or want to learn, here’s a quick primer when editing a file (usually done by typing “vi foo.txt” in a shell) – :q! …Force quit vi (:q also works – gentler!) :wq! …Save file and quit vi i (then type characters) …insert text at current position A (then type characters) …Insert at end of current line G …go to first character of last line in the file /foo …search for first occurrence of “foo” in the file (hit / again to find additional instances) x …Delete character under cursor :56 …Go to line 56 yy …Copy the line the cursor is currently on into the buffer p … Paste the buffer r (then type character) …Replace character under cursor Second nature after a bit of practice! I used torment guy who insisted on using ed. That was… odd.

Open ##1891397

@icedaemon0@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 19:18

nano or micro for quick cli edits. i prefer smth like vscodium for more detailed editing.

Open ##1891550

@SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 2026-05-02 19:21

I realized that I forgot about pico and joe, the latter was my very first text editor (hated it!).

Open ##1891700

@brax@sh.itjust.works 2026-05-02 19:36

Neovim. One time I accidentally opened nano and couldn’t figure out how to get out of it… Wtf is with those keybinds? Lol at emacs not even being on your list. Suck it, emacs users 😂😂❤️

Open ##1891879

@L_Acacia@lemmy.ml 2026-05-02 19:38

Vim/neovim if you are willing to take the time to learn how to use / config it. Micro otherwise, very sensible keybinds and ux that map to modern gui apps, though it doesn’t come installed in most distro unlike ed and nano.

Open ##1891911

@BartyDeCanter@piefed.social 2026-05-02 19:40

Helix when I can install things, vi when I can’t.

Open ##1892008

@SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 2026-05-02 18:44

nano. I can’t memorize esoterica.

Open ##1892478

@geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 2026-05-02 20:08

micro for sure. But I dont use it as a main editor. Just for quick text file adjustments.

Open ##1892509

@thoralf@discuss.familie-will.at 2026-05-02 20:13

VIM Learnt it in my first semester and use it ever since.