Top 6 awesome text editors for Linux and Unix command-line users/developers

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on /r/linuxboss

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  • Vim

    The official Vim repository

    Vim is an acronym for Vi IMproved. It is a clone, with an additional set of features to the original Bill Joy’s vi text editor for Unix. Vim’s author, Bram Moolenaar, based Vim on the source code for a port of the Stevie editor to the Amiga. At the time of its first release, the name “Vim” was an acronym for “Vi IMitation”, but this changed to “‘Vi IMproved” late in 1993.

  • GNU Emacs

    Mirror of GNU Emacs

    GNU Emacs is an acronym for Macros Macros. One of the most common text editors on Linux and Unix-like systems. Developers and programmers primarily use it. Emacs’ key selling points are its powerful Emacs Lisp, a built-in programming language that lets the user extend the editor’s capabilities. Emacs fans are often involved in an Internet turf war with vim/vi fans.

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    Power Real-Time Data Analytics at Scale. Get real-time insights from all types of time series data with InfluxDB. Ingest, query, and analyze billions of data points in real-time with unbounded cardinality.

  • neovim

    Vim-fork focused on extensibility and usability

    Neovim is a fork of vim with additional features. The authors of Neovim wanted text editor features to improve Vim’s extensibility and maintainability. It is fully compatible with Vim’s editing model and the Vimscript language. With 30% less source-code than Vim, the vision of Neovim is to enable new applications without compromising Vim’s traditional roles. Since Neovim is a drop-in replacement for vim, the learning curve is easier for existing vim users. Feature includes:

  • micro-editor

    A modern and intuitive terminal-based text editor

    Micro is a terminal-based text editor that aims to be easy to use and intuitive while also taking advantage of modern terminals’ full capabilities. From the project page:

  • kakoune

    mawww's experiment for a better code editor

    Kakoune is a modal text editor. Vim is a significant inspiration for Kakoune existence, and it tries to improve the text editing workflow and fit better to the Unix philosophy. From the project home page:

  • WorkOS

    The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS. The APIs are flexible and easy-to-use, supporting authentication, user identity, and complex enterprise features like SSO and SCIM provisioning.

NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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