When I first started using Ubuntu I wanted to find a text editor something like BBEdit or TextMate on the Mac. After flirting with both Vi and Emacs, I eventually turned to gEdit, the humble little default text editor for the Gnome desktop. But I quickly realized that gEdit is actually quite powerful.

I spent the last few days reading The Craft of Text Editing, a book on the design of text editors.It focuses mainly on editors based on Emacs, but many of the principles apply to all other text editors [...] Since most people spend a large portion of their time inside of their text editor, I believe it is important to understand the basic

The focus of this 10 page mini-course is to provide a foundation for using basic text editors. At some time everyone who uses Linux will need a text editor. One of the most important reasons for learning vi is that it is loaded on every Linux distro by default whereas others like nano or emacs are not. So whatever text editor you choose be sure you load it and use it before you need it.

It's no longer a hard-copy world, and most writing tasks don't require all the bells and whistles in heavyweight word processing programs. Text editors are a much more nimble choice. However, not all text editors are alike.

"...This thesis is intended to answer the question «What are the important considerations in designing a text editor?» In answering this question, it will provide a reference document for would-be implementors of text editors..." -- http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/1721.1/15905/2/08327312-MIT.pdf

In this group test Mayank Sharma of Linux Voices looks at five humble text editors that are more than capable of heavy-lifting texting duties. They can highlight syntax and auto-indent code just as effortlessly as they can spellcheck documents. You can use them to record macros and manage code snippets just as easily as you can copy/paste plain text.

A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files. Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code.

"Now that I am becoming a "real" programmer, I have made the decision to learn how to use the behemoth of a text editor, Emacs. A feature-rich and highly customizable editor, Emacs is distributed by the GNU project and has historically been one of the most popular text editors in programming history, along with vi [...] Learning Emacs is like learning how to drive stick.

Text editors are important for many tasks, from editing configuration files, nudging cron jobs, and manipulating XML files to quickly pushing out a README. Luckily, there are a number of interesting editors available. Here's a brief introduction to nine intriguing choices. While some may be better suited to certain tasks, it's no one tool is better than another for all tasks.