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GNU nano 2.9.0

nano-editor.org

11–20 of 62 posts

Re: GNU nano 2.9.0

#11
post #3

Is anyone using this thing?

nano, or the new feature? I use nano all the time.

I use nano all the time. It's on most platforms and it's quick to bring up for some basic editing.

Over the last 20 years of using Linux I haven't learned vi and emacs above basic editing and saving files.

Re: GNU nano 2.9.0

#13
So I was looking through the sources of nano and I seemed to have discovered a previously-unknown (at least based on a quick search) easter egg.

First modify the buffer somehow. It really doesn't matter if you just type in "test"

Hit ^X to exit nano. When it asks you if you want to save the buffer hit Y

Save the file as "zzy" and press ENTER to trigger the Easter egg

^X+Y+zzy is likely a reference to xyzzy, a cheat code originally used in Colossal Cave Adventure[1]

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xyzzy_%28computing%29?wprov=sf...

Re: GNU nano 2.9.0

#14
post #3

Is anyone using this thing?

Every time I'm sysadminning some Linux server or another. It's everywhere and does the job well enough without me having to learn vim :-D

I also often use it to look inside random files on my Mac that won't open anywhere else (e.g. .xml, .json, files without extension names).

Re: GNU nano 2.9.0

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you use nano?

I use it in a pinch fairly constantly. Despite being a heavily customized Emacs user all the rest of the time. Mostly when I'm already scouring around the shell poking at files or need to make a simple new one (like a .gitignore) and I don't want/need to perturb whatever else I'm doing in Emacs.

This post makes me so glad to have been forced into vi all those years ago.

Its everywhere, its quick, and unless you've done some pretty nutty stuff in your configs, basic usage is the same between a heavily customized vi and the vi you find bundled with every is bundled windows and gentoo. (Not to disparage any preference for emacs; it just seems a bit much to have to fall back to an entirely different editor seems a bit much)

Re: GNU nano 2.9.0

#17
post #3

Is anyone using this thing?

Yep, all the time. It's perfect for quick, easy edits and available everywhere. I love the simplicity:

  CTRL-X [y/n/c];
  ALT-A and CTRL-K
  CTRL-W and CTRL-R
...pretty much covers 99.9% of the commands I ever use in it.

Re: GNU nano 2.9.0

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nano, or the new feature? I use nano all the time.

Why do you use nano?

It's a simple text editor that's available out of the box in most Unix-like distros these days. So kinda like vi, except I know how to use it (and if I ever forget, it lists all shortcuts on the bottom of the screen anyway).

Re: GNU nano 2.9.0

#20
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you use nano?

It's a simple text editor that's available out of the box in most Unix-like distros these days. So kinda like vi, except I know how to use it (and if I ever forget, it lists all shortcuts on the bottom of the screen anyway).

Actually, the Debian install cd doesn't have vi but does have nano, and vim (and neovim) is larger than nano.
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