I think the possible valid answers are: “vi”, “emacs”, “both”, “seriously it’s 2024”, and " huh?"
Personally nano
But who cares what you use as long as you are proficient.
Proficiency is absolutely key. I was troubleshooting a feature with a Jr the other day and asked him to search through the log out put (that was currently being displayed on his terminal). Unfortunately he was trying out a new emulator and didn’t know how to actually search the output.
We went about it a different way, but at the end I just told him it didn’t matter what tools he used as long as he actually knew how to do what’s required with them and to please get that figured out for next time.
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Okay, but nobody paid any attention to my multiple choice anyway, and the responses are thoughtful.
vim
vi
emacs. If you want vim keybindings there is a mode in emacs called “evil-mode”. If sticking with pure emacs I recommend rebinding the caps lock key on your keyboard to control.
I learnt Emacs years ago, it’s very helpful to the day-to-day terminal use, however if I could go back I would learn Vi instead, it’s better for pinky strain.
I really wish more text editors being actively developed in the present day would take advantage of the IBM CUA standard that has been embraced by Windows and (Desktop) Linux since basically the early 1990s.
Butterflies
Seriously, it’s 2024. Use vim
Vi for me for config, script, and text type files. Used to use emacs a lot for developing hobby stuff but prefer other IDEs now.
Likewise, I use vi for sysadmin work, and a big IDE (VSCodium) for writing code.
Yes. And others.
Nano (pico). You shouldn’t have to look at a quickref to save and quit a document.
Get in, make your changes, get out.
mcedit
Vim, I’ve not given emacs a fair try yet. At work I’ve got to use what I’ve got to use and neither is an option. At home the last thing I want to do is write more code.
When I do have a choice I’m not doing much more complicated things than editing a config file and anything more advanced than cat would do I guess.
I respect Emacs but it’s not for me. Neovim.
Vi.
Honestly, Vim is too heavy for me. I wish I could get a reasonable text editor with:
- No built-in programming languages.
- Vi(m)-style modal editing and keys.
- No GUI. Terminal is good, thanks.
- Not a lot of moving parts.
- Infinite undo. (I’m ambivolent about an undo/redo “tree” feature like Vim has.)
- Visual mode like Vim has.
- Simple syntax highlighting would be a plus, but not a must-have.
- Stable. As in doesn’t crash.
Vim fails on #1, #4, and #7. (It has syntax highlighting, but not simple highlighting.)
I usually just use the vi that is pre-installed on Arch Linux. (I use Arch Linux btw. Bite me. 😈) But it fails on #5, #6, #7, and #8. (It segfaults randomly a lot.) But I guess those issues haven’t been deal breakers enough to make me switch to something else.
I have used nvi in the past. I ended up leaving it for the Arch pre-installed vi. Don’t remember particuarly why now.
Maybe one day I’ll write my own text editor and ascend to full neckbeardhood.
