In: Categories » Computers and technology » Linux Commands » Editing text filesin Linux Red Hat
Editors are by the far the bulkiest of common tools, but they are also the most useful. Without them, making any kind of change to a text file would be a tremendous undertaking. Regardless of your Linux distribution, you will have gotten a few editors. You should take a few moments to get comfortable with them before you’re busy fighting another problem.
NOTE
Although all of the editors listed here come with Red Hat 8, not all of them are installed by default. You may have to specifically install one that you find you like and isn’t one of the defaults.
vi
The vi editor has been part of UNIX-based systems since the 1970s, and its interface shows it. It is arguably one of the last editors to actually use a separate command mode and data entry mode; as a result, most newcomers find it unpleasant to use. But before you give vi the cold shoulder, take a moment to get comfortable with it. In difficult situations, you may not have a pretty graphical editor at your disposal, and vi is ubiquitous across all UNIX systems. The version of vi that ships with Linux distributions is VIM (VI iMproved). It has a lot of what made vi popular in the first place and many features that make it useful in today’s typical environments (including a graphical interface if X is running). To start vi, simply type
[michael@workbox michael]$ vi
The easiest way to learn more about vi is to start it and enter :help. If you ever find yourself stuck in vi, press the ESC key several times and then type :qu! to force an exit without saving. If you want to save the file, type :wq.
emacs
It has been argued that emacs is an operating system all by itself. It’s big, feature-rich, expandable, programmable, and all-around amazing. If you’re coming from a GUI background, you’ll probably find emacs a pleasant environment to work with at first. On its cover, it works like Notepad in terms of its interface. Yet underneath is a complete interface to the GNU development environment, a mail reader, a news reader, a web browser, and even a psychiatrist (well, not exactly).
To start emacs, simply type
[michael@workbox michael]$ emacs
Once emacs has started, you can visit the psychiatrist by pressing ALT-X and then typing doctor. To get help using emacs, press CTRL-H. If you want to save a file press CTRL-X and then CTRL-S. To exit emacs, use CTRL-X followed by CTRL-C.
joe
Of the editors listed here, joe most closely resembles a simple text editor. It works much like Notepad and offers on-screen help. Anyone who remembers the original WordStar command set will be pleasantly surprised to see that all those brain cells hanging on to CTRL-K commands can be put back to use with joe. To start joe, simply type
[michael@workbox michael]$ joe
pico
The pico program is another editor inspired by simplicity. Typically used in conjunction with the pine mail reading system, pico can also be used as a stand-alone editor. Like joe, it can work in a manner similar to Notepad, but pico uses its own set of key combinations. Thankfully, all available key combinations are always shown at the bottom of the screen. To start pico, simply type
[michael@workbox michael]$ pico
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