If you are a Linux user, at some point or other you have to use a Text editor. As Linux distros are famous for being customizable and to customize your Linux OS you have to edit some configuration. And to edit any configuration files we need a text editor. Text editors are a very important part in the life of a Linux User. Hence most distros come preinstalled with some Text editor. But it might happen that you don’t like the preinstalled text editor.
When looking for a text editor, its quite easy to get lost in a pile of choices. There are text editors that are great at some things while not so good at others. So here we have compiled a list of text editors for Linux which we think are definitely worth a look.
Vim Editor
Vim is a very powerful text editor and has been around since 1991. This makes Vim one of the oldest text editors still around now and is still around for a reason. Vim is a very versatile and dynamic text editor that extends the capability of Vi text editor. Vim is highly configurable making it best suited for developers. Its also called as a programmers editor for its highly configurable options. Although its true potential might not be appreciated by a beginner. But once you mastered Vim, it can be the most powerful text editor.
Features:
- It can be used both as a command-line interface and a standalone application in the GUI form.
- Vim can view and edit files even on a remote server using a terminal.
- Vim has a very extensive range of plugins and packages totaling over 14000.
- It supports features such as Syntax coloring, Tag system, Tab expansion, Digraph input, Automatic commands, Session screen, Split screen and many more.
Install Vim using the following command:
sudo apt-get install vimAtom
Atom is a free and open-source modern text editor that’s developed by GitHub. It’s a desktop application that’s built using web technologies. Atom is often called text editor of the 21st century, it’s modern and hackable to the core. You can even select from 1000s of open-source packages and add new features. You can customize and configure it to suit your style and needs.
Features:
- Atom supports cross-platform editing.
- An extensive auto-complete system for almost every language.
- The file tree and fuzzy finder make opening projects and files easier.
- Support of multiple panes to split workspace into multiple panes.
Install Atom using the following command:
sudo snap install atom --classicSublime Text
Sublime is a highly feature-packed text editor. It natively supports a ton of programming language and markup languages. Although Sublime is a closed source text editor but supports a lot of plugins that are maintained under free software licenses. So that you can customize sublime according to your needs and extend its functionality. The only drawback for some could be that its closed source and costs $70.
Features:
- Sublime text can select multiple lines, words, and columns.
- It supports Auto-completion making your typing faster.
- It even supports text snippets through which you can directly add text and code.
Install Sublime Text using the following command:
sudo snap install sublime-textGedit
Gedit is a GUI based text editor and is the default text editor of the GNOME desktop environment. As with the philosophies of the GNOME project, Gedit also comes with a very clean and straightforward GUI. Its open-source and free software that’s why you don’t have to pay anything to use Gedit. It’s really fast and simple to use but it does miss on a lot of features.
Features:
- There are a ton of plugins available to increase productivity and make Gedit customizable.
- The UI of gedit clean and minimal, that’s why it feels fast while using.
Install Gedit using the following command:
sudo apt-get install geditGNU Emacs
A really robust text editor with the support of a plethora of programming languages. Its not only a text editor but cal also be used for various other tasks. GNU Emacs can even be used for email, web browsing, organizing various tasks. Emacs is really great at various tasks and has a number of shell variants like ansi-term, shell, and eshell. Its a really great tool but you have to learn Lisp to customize it. And it’s not much beginner-friendly as it requires you to learn new keyboard shortcuts.
Features:
- Emacs is focused on increasing speed that’s why it can be entirely controlled with the keyboard. Without you needing to reach for the mouse every time.
- Supports cross-work platform.
- It’s free so you don’t have to pay anything to use such a great tool.
Install GNU Emacs using the following command:
sudo apt-get install emacsKate
Kate(KDE Advanced Text Editor) is an open-source GUI text editor developed by the KDE community. It comes bundled with KDE software since 2001. It is elegant, very lightweight and makes your work faster. Kate has a lot of plugins that allow to expand or shrink depending on your need.
Features:
- Kate supports syntax highlighting for over 180 languages.
- It uses KDE’s input and output libraries to read and write files, this allows seamless integration with FTP, SMB, SFTP, and many other protocols.
- Kate has a terminal that can sync to the location of documents, letting us compile to run the program quickly without leaving the editor.
Install Kate using the following command:
sudo apt-get install kateVisual Studio Code
Visual studio code even though developed by Microsoft is a completely open-source text-editor. Its source code can be accessed on GitHub. Visual Studio Code features a very modern look, its lightweight and still a very powerful text editor. There is a variety of extensions available so that you can easily customize it according to your needs.
Features:
- Visual Studio Code has integrated Git control, guaranteeing speed, data integrity.
- It’s fairly complete out of the box to make you productive. However, you can add plugins if needed.
- You can also get support easily as the community of VSC is increasing
Install Visual Studio Code using the following command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-desktop/ubuntu-make
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-makeumake web visual-studio-codeBrackets
Adobe launched Brackets text editor in 2014 naming it Brackets for the Linux environment. Brackets is low on memory usage and start’s up very quickly. It even has Vim-style editing already built in the text editor. But brackets only support web languages by default.
Features:
- Brackets support drag and drop of text as well as multi/rectangular selection.
- It supports “Quick edit” that lets the user select a tag in HTML file and edit the associated style without switching over to the CSS document.
Install Brackets using the following command:
sudo apt-get install bracketsNano
Nano is a very popular text editor for Linux that is also used in UNIX operating systems. It’s based on Pico text editor and comes loaded with additional functionality. If you are habitual of spending hours playing with configuration files in Terminal then Nano can fulfill all your needs.
Features:
- It’s user-friendly.
- Nano has features like Autoconf support, case sensitive search, auto-indentation, and many more.
Install Nano using the following command:
sudo apt-get install nanoNotepadqq text editor for Linux
Notepadqq is a free source code editor created as an alternative for Linux to Notepad++ which is only available for Windows. Like Notepad++, it also aims to ensure program sizes are small with high execution speeds. It’s really created for Notepad++ users migrating to Linux.
Features:
- Notepadqq is really simple to use.
- It’s fast and has good plugin support.
Install Notepadqq using the following command:
sudo snap install --classic notepadqqSo what another text editor you think should be on this list? tell us in the comments. As we keep this post updated it might land on this list next time we update this post with proper credits to you. I hope you liked this list of best text editor for Linux and we were able to help you in some way.
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