Also known as the "record macros in Nano" release.
remacs is already taken
GNU nano 2.9.0
21–30 of 62 posts
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#22Is anyone using this thing?
nayes
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
I don't _have_ to "fallback". I just choose not to interrupt the extremely rich development environment I have setup in Emacs and my projectile projects by bringing in random other files/buffers.
It's akin to the same justification for why I wouldn't bother opening a random tiny file in Xcode or IntelliJ IDEA.
I don't use Emacs as just a simple text editor. I can probably count the times I've typed `emacs some/file/path.whatever` into the shell on one hand.
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
That actually seems a bit odd; it's not like vi is big.
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#25Is anyone using this thing?
Yes! It's a simple and easy editor to use. It's one thing I really miss when I use a non GNU based NIX that doesn't come with it pre-installed.
It does everything you need it to do for quick configuration edits, and doesn't get in your way.
Have you ever tried to use the equivalent 'ee' editor that comes installed on other NIX? It's painful.
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#26Is 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).
I think vi is probably more ubiquitous though, especially since it’s included in busybox which powers almost all imbedded Linux hosts. Still a good idea to learn a little vim
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#27So 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 c…
Uh, really cool! Spoiler recording https://asciinema.org/a/aWR9hmT5CuEMbxfUUYEx4ATS4
PS: You can quit this text-animation by any keypress and then store the actual file zzy, if required.
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#28Is anyone using this thing?
I helped my nephew (a teenager) with a coding project he was working on recently, and nano is what he was using when he made edits on the server. So, yes. People are still using it, and new people are picking it up because it's an easy editor that works anywhere. It seems like you'd want to learn something a little more powerful (like, say, vim) if you work on the command line via a remote connection frequently, but for every once in a while, you can't beat nano for ease of use. There's really no learning curve to do basic edits. (Meanwhile, some poor soul is struggling this very moment to figure out how to exit vim.)
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#29I used nano for quick edits for years with modified sane CUA keybindings. It was ok. Recently found the "micro" editor here and liking it more.
Re: GNU nano 2.9.0
#30So 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 c…
"xyzzy" also made an appearance in the Infocom games Enchanter and/or Wishbringer.