Nano has already supplanted the great EMacs and Vim as the most popular text editor of all linux distros, for though it has many omissions in functionality it scores over the older, more complete programs in two important respects. First, it is slightly simpler; and secondly it has the text “^ Exit” inscribed in highlighted text on its footer

EDIT : This sees to be going over some people’s heads. It’s a hitchiker’s guide to the galaxy reference.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions . . . it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON’T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

    • Cyno@programming.dev
      1·
      14 hours ago

      Same, although I did wish I could like, just select text with my mouse properly, or move the cursor to a place by clicking there, delete blocks without cutting them, and/or remember the copy/paste/undo shortcuts…etc

    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.ca
      1·
      15 hours ago

      Vi lets me jump to the place I need to be and make edits to a config file very sticky, simply, and efficiently. But all that came at the cost of the steep learning curve.

    • homes@piefed.worldEnglish
      44·
      2 days ago

      That’s why nano gets used more than vi/vim. In the past, the majority of people using terminal text editors were geeks and developers. Now the majority of people using the terminal text editors are more often casual users who have no use for putting the time and effort to learn vi/vim, especially because they have no need for the extended functionality

      • chellomere@lemmy.world
        13·
        2 days ago

        I don’t get you people. Proper copy/paste support is “extended functionality”? I beg to differ. This is basic functionality.

        And no, single line copy/paste as offered by nano, or copy and paste through the terminal is not proper copy/paste.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
          1·
          17 hours ago

          That’s true, if you had no GUI for an extended period, it’d be worth learning something that could do that. Although, other people are saying there’s a way in nano.

          If you’re using a GUI, and working in an emulator, who cares if it’s not “proper”?

        • leMe@anarchist.nexusEnglish
          4·
          1 day ago

          this functionality is only bloated and complicated for the person using a terminal a couple of times a year.

          i say that while looking like this when i see any editor but vim used:

          but i know my co-worker looks at me like this, because he knows he only ever uses vi:

        • homes@piefed.worldEnglish
          5·
          1 day ago

          Sit down by the campfire my dear youngin’ and I’ll talk you tales of a terror myth called ASSEMBLY

          OOOOOooOOOOOooOOO!

          Machine language! Direct memory addressing! AAAAAaaaaa!

          MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

          Computers existed before the year 2000, you silly children…

            • homes@piefed.worldEnglish
              4·
              24 hours ago

              https://demoscene.assembly.org

              My favorite when I was a kid was absolutely, and without a doubt Second Reality by Future Crew. Full screen 3-D object rendering at 30 frames a second on a 486SX/25 CPU without a graphics card. in 1993

              Future Crew, active in the early 90s, was a legendary group within the demoscene. They were acclaimed for their groundbreaking demos, like “Second Reality”, that demonstrated advanced programming, visual artistry, and music composition. These works set new standards for what was possible in real-time computer graphics, and they inspired countless artists and programmers around the world. Despite the group’s dissolution in 1994, Future Crew’s influence on the demoscene and the broader fields of graphics and game development is undeniable, and their legacy continues to inspire creativity in the digital world.

              Fucking legendary.

              And it fit on a floppy

              Edit: I remember my friend Nick brought back a copy of Second Reality from ASSEMBLY 93, an annual convention of assembly developers where they would show off their programming prowess with these demos. Me and my friends got to see it before it hit the BBSs and Usenet. So fresh, yo!

              • bufalo1973@piefed.socialEnglish
                2·
                16 hours ago

                I remember seen it in 1993 or 1994 in a friend’s PC with a Gravis Ultrasound. It was AMAZING. For comparison, the games of that year were almost all 16 bits platformers.

                • homes@piefed.worldEnglish
                  2·
                  14 hours ago

                  I think it took me over an hour to get my sound blaster pro configured just right

                  Here’s another reference from the era, let’s see if you get it:

                  “Did you bring the pages?”

                  It was from a game, but not a platformer

              • teslekova@sh.itjust.works
                2·
                19 hours ago

                That’s incredible work.

                And it makes me remember another gem of the period, Elite! I first played Elite Plus, but when I heard about the original, the magic of being able to navigate all those worlds in such a small format fired my imagination.

              • teslekova@sh.itjust.works
                1·
                19 hours ago

                Just watched it all and goddamn. Rabbit hole time. Haven’t remembered what it was like back then for a long time. An age of marvels and wonder.

          • chellomere@lemmy.world
            4·
            23 hours ago

            Ah, I looked it up, it seems it actually has multiline copy/paste? Alt-A to mark the start of the text, Alt-6 to copy, Ctrl-U to paste. I’ll try it out next time I’m stuck in nano, thanks!

        • esc@piefed.socialEnglish
          3·
          1 day ago

          Nano has proper copy/pate, it works identical to any text editor. Mark -> copy/cut -> paste