Fedora Developers Restart Talk Over Using Nano As The Default Text Editor

[tildearrow]

Write a shell script that does that and Fedora might include it by default.

In fact, I was working on a proof-of-concept after having that idea:

#!/bin/sh

editors=(nano vim)
selection=1

echo "Please select your default text editor:"
echo "(1) Simple (nano)"
echo "(2) Programmer/Advanced (vim)"

while true; do
  echo -n "Input number (default 1)? "
  read -n 1 selection
  echo
  if [ $selection ]; then
    if ! [ "$selection" -eq "$selection" ] 2>/dev/null; then
      selection=0
      echo "Please input a number (1 or 2)."
    else
      if [ $selection -gt 2 ] || [ $selection -lt 1 ]; then
        selection=0
        echo "Please input a number (1 or 2)."
      else
        selection=$((selection-1))
        break
      fi
    fi
  else
    selection=0
    break
  fi
done

echo >> $HOME/.profile
echo "# editor-selector" >> $HOME/.profile
echo "EDITOR=${editors[selection]}" >> $HOME/.profile

export EDITOR=${editors[selection]}
echo "Default text editor set to ${editors[selection]}."
echo "You may need to relog for the change to take effect."
sleep 3

exec ${editors[selection]} $@

(note that this is just a proof of concept and not meant to be actually used)

[starshipeleven]

Debating over the default text editor does little to inspire confidence in the project. It is a user settable, and people who use command line should be expert users so know how to set their own default.

expert users don't just appear out of thin air. Expert users were newcomers that started exploring and found it interesting.

If you put pointless complexity their way you end up with the VIM situation where a complete trash application becomes "what pros must use" because that's what they learned to use when they were younger.

[starshipeleven]

Time waste around useless dilemma: average Joe coming from Windows/macOS does not even open the terminal.

Average Joe does not come on Linux to begin with.

It's safe to assume people on Linux are more techie than average and will appreciate a better terminal experience by default as they learn their ropes and eventually become experts.

[bachchain]

I wonder if it would make a good research project trying to quantify just how much developer time has been wasted on this bike-shed.

[sverris]

I wonder if it would make a good research project trying to quantify just how much developer time has been wasted on this bike-shed.

which reminds me of "... the amount of noise generated by a change is inversely proportional to the complexity of the change."
(Source: https://workbench.cadenhead.org/news...ormat-bikeshed)

[CommunityMember]

While nano is not my current editor of choice for day by day work, it is small and easy enough to use and to explain to those that do not want to choose a religion (their own editor of choice) at this time, or are running inside a minimal install. Off the top of my head jed might be the only equivalent (small, easy to use/explain) for a simple terminal editor.

[kpedersen]

Isn't vi part of the POSIX standard? The Vim "lite mode" satisfies that requirement.

I am assuming that they are keeping both binaries, this is purely so when tools like Git require input it can shock you with the opposite editor to the one you are comfortable with?

[rene]

what an important news and discussion ;-) Hope they plumb it soon, …

[discordian]

I'd love if a minimal nano-like editor gets added to busybox. Editing some startup scripts in an emergency/rescue shell is a pain with vi(m). And I sometimes manage to get it totally stuck over a serial terminal.

[mifritscher]

@tildearrow: Ubuntu has this menu already.

I think that most people should be able to work with mcedit very well. And mc as file manager (hint: alt-enter, ctr+o, , Ctrl+s)