Ubuntu text editor install#
Ubuntu text editor full#

Unlike vim or emacs, the Sublime editing window does not require much instruction to get going. Sublime Text, a “sophisicated” editor is certainly popular in the Ubuntu forums, but it’s wide compatibility with Linux, Mac, and Windows, makes it generally popular around the world. As the description for Spacemacs puts it: “The best editor is neither Emacs nor Vim, it’s Emacs and Vim!” Sublime For users accustomed to vim, Spacemacs lets users choose at installation which keybindings they’d prefer to use.

There are also popular “flavors” of emacs, like the popular Spacemacs, which provide a higher-concept user interface and pre-loaded plugins.

Ubuntu text editor full#

With the advent of “Evil Mode,” the keybindings from Vim were ported into emacs, which meant any vim user could get the full emacs experience to satisfy their curiosity.Įmacs comes in both a command line and GUI variant, though the GUI is certainly more popular with a rich set of features. Beyond any mere text editor, emacs is an entire productivity system.Ĭoded mostly in Lisp, with some core components written in C-for compatibility purposes-emacs is highly programmable, with a wide community of users.Įmacs has earned a reputation for being difficult but worth the effort. That’s the kind of reputation that drives one to furiously type “LOL.”īut Emacs is no laughing matter. You’ve probably heard the old joke about how Emacs is an operating system with a decent text editor. It’s a cross-platform, heavily customizable, master editor. EmacsĮmacs, or “gnu emacs,” is the baroque text editor for all time.

Vim keybindings are so popular, they’ve been ported into other text editors, as you’ll see when we take a look at emacs. If speed is your thing, vim lets you rip faster through text than any other editor. This means that vim users, with much practice, can get really fast at completing complex text manipulations. The vim keys for movement, editing, and manipulating text conform naturally to the movements and positions of your fingers on the keyboard. Most vim users will tell you it’s all about the keybindings. Vim is coded about 50% C and 50% “vim script,” so unless you’re comfortable with those languages, you may be limited to using plugins and custom scripts in terms of user programmability. Many online tutorials assume some knowledge of vim, or they’ll give you the commands and you can just type them. For developers, sysadmins, and users of all kinds, vim, is the dependable workhorse. The classic, formidable, unflappable vim. If you’re looking for a fast, easy-to-use, and heavily expandable editor for Linux, gedit is a great choice. Gedit is designed for the gnome desktop environment and works well with it.

Ubuntu text editor install#

It’s widely supported, easy to install to plugins, however it’s not highly user programmable unless the user is comfortable with C. The point is, gedit meets most of the criteria we set for a good editor. If one were to look at the contents of the questions, you might generate multiple reasons for gedit’s popularity.

Is it because gedit has usability issues?.

Is it because gedit comes pre-installed as the default text editor in Ubuntu?.

So why did so many people ask questions about gedit? GeditĪs mentioned in our methodology, the popularity of one editor over another is only based on questions asked. Likewise, if one’s own user programming is of great help, it might be of value to the community and should be shared. The data on editor choice we discovered bears this out. They want to feel the sense that they have adapted their editor to fit their needs rather than the other way around. A static program, even and integrated development environment (IDE) bloated with lots of intuitive features, may makes some aspects of development easier.īut some users don’t want it to be easy. Over many years of usage, a good text editor should enliven one’s development practices. What makes a good text editor? The needs of each user will vary, but I’d say a good baseline criteria should be: As of June 2020, the popularity of these editors, based on tags, were as follows: Analysis of Each Editor

Any question tagged with a certain editor was counted. I looked at all the questions in the Ask Ubuntu forum and sorted based on tags. We found a mix of graphical user interface (GUI) and command line interface (CLI) editors. What features really matter? What level of customization is necessary? Such questions make the search more enjoyable.įor our analysis, we took a look at Ubuntu users to find out which editor was most popular. Why is this non-secret a secret? The secret is kept alive because the debate itself invigorates the power users of the world in their search for the perfect editor. The best-kept secret is, no text editor is “the best” because it all depends on how you like to work.