I have recently started using Ubuntu and hence, the terminal.
As text editor, I have used the pre-installed nano. Now I wonder whether I should install and use vim as well.
What are each of those text editors' special features, advantages and disadvantages? Which one is better suited for newcomers, and for what use cases would the other be preferable?
6 Answers
In a nutshell: nano is simple, vim is powerful.
If you only want to simply edit some textfiles, nano will be enough. In my opinion, vim is pretty advanced and complicated to use. You should expect some time to get into it before you're able to properly use it.
Funny (but not too unrealistic) quote about vim: (source)
I've been using vim for about 2 years now, mostly because I can't figure out how to exit it.
Vim and Nano are completely different terminal text editors.
Nano is simple, easy to use and master while Vim is powerful and tough to master.
To differentiate, it will be better to list some features of them. Since we don't use terminal editors for normal edits or coding, I'm listing some of the most interesting features that help for the way we use them today.
Nano:
- Easy to use and master.
- Nano has most of the shortcuts listed at the bottom of the window, making it extremely simple to use.
- Search function
- Search and replace
- "Goto line" command
- Automatic indentation
