this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2026
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me like use nano. nano say how do thing. nano exit easy.

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[–] Francislewwis@lemmy.world 9 points 5 hours ago

Honestly nano is perfect for quick edits. Vim and Emacs are powerful, but sometimes you just want to open a config file, change one line, and exit without fighting the editor. πŸ˜„

[–] bilb@lemmy.ml 5 points 5 hours ago

Linux text editor discourse has been baffling to me for decades now. I don't care which you use, and I care even less about why.

[–] umbraroze@slrpnk.net 3 points 4 hours ago

VS Code is probably the editor that's easiest to exit. If I ran it on the computer I first ran Emacs on, it'd exit immediately, because VS Code requires a modern version of Windows and that computer had Windows 3.11. If I ran it on the first computer I ran Linux on, it'd also exit immediately because the machine would run out of memory. (...it was a 486DX, I don't remember how much memory it had, but VS Code doesn't run well if your memory is measured in megabytes)

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 3 points 5 hours ago

Emacs is a table saw, vim is a chainsaw, nano is a scissor. Every problem those 3 solve is a differently sized single sheet of paper.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 7 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

nano is usually built in. Adding another one is just redundant if all you're using it for is editing an occasional config file.

Honestly never understood the hate for it. Who cares? Petty, stupid, nerd-wars over little crap like a text editor is the reason average people don't even consider linux.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

I very rarely see people hate nano (except a few comments in this thread), and I always see nano recommended as the text editor when people give advice on doing things in the command line

[–] flango@lemmy.eco.br 5 points 7 hours ago
Emacs evil mode enters the chat
[–] rosco385@lemmy.wtf 36 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

nano gang represent😎

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

I actually prefer micro

[–] Bluewing@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago

I can use Vim, it was the choice for years. But I actually like using nano because it's what I need and all I need.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 6 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

I first ran into nano when I gave Gentoo a try. I had to edit a few config files, so I ran vi... no vi. Emacs? No Emacs. Well, shit, what am I supposed to do? So I went back a bit and read more carefully, apparently there was a thing called nano.
So I ran that. Ew. It was a clone of an old DOS editor of all things. What kind of lunatic had ported that? Anyway I managed to do my edits with it, added normal editors to the system and was on my way.
It was also the last time I used it.

[–] bestboyfriendintheworld@sh.itjust.works 13 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

nano is the perfect editor for people who only use editors in the terminal, once in a while to edit a config file.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world -1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I don't think it's the perfect editor for anything. They'll have to use vi sooner or later, they might as well learn the basics. Or just use kate.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Use Kate in command line over ssh?

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Ssh - X

Then run kate, easy :)

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 7 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

"I hated using it"
"But you have used it, yes?"

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Well, yes. But I did wash my hands afterwards.

[–] Shanmugha@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago

I no understand nano. I hate key combinations

[–] Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 29 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Fortunately, every computer comes equipped with an "exit editor" button. It's on the back, attached to the power supply unit. You just flick the switch. Exits every editor known to humanity. /j

[–] hakunawazo@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

Ah, the famous NCIS way of exiting editors.

[–] MoffKalast@lemmy.world 138 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Vim users: "I feel bad for you"

Nano users: "I don't think about you at all"

[–] h4x0r@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 hour ago

OP suggests otherwise.

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[–] MehBlah@lemmy.world 161 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The image is misleading. The brain sizes represent the amount of grey matter it takes to operate the editor. The nano guy has plenty of brain power left over for things like hygiene, breathing and basic reasoning.

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[–] smh@slrpnk.net 33 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I love nano. I used to do tech support for a Linux-based content management system (before SAaS take took off).. The customer sysadmins were sometimes whichever engineer was volun-told to do it, so competency varied wildly.

I helped mostly with installs. This might be the poor newbie sysadmin's first time on the command line. Nano was my go-to suggestion for editing config files--all the commands are right there! Much less intimidating than vi or emacs for a newbie.

Nano you can pick up in ten minutes and master in an afternoon. By that time you’re still reading the intro to vim or eMacs.

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