Micro terminal editor

[geo_c]

Just wanted to give a mention to a terminal editor that a guy like me (someone who cannot handle vim or emacs just yet) finds really satisfying: https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/blob/master/README.md

It's micro, a terminal based text editor, and it's perfect to edit config files and scripts, though not extraordinarily powerful as a code editor, or whatever it is that people use vim and emacs to do. But it supports using shell commands in a similar fashion as midnight commander. So it sits in that sweet spot. It looks nice and uses either 16, 256 or true color, has a very friendly config file, and is easy to install. There's a fairly recent version in the fossapup package manager.

Here it is opened to one of my lilypond files:

I was using KLV-Airedale-beta14 a lot and I noticed that the default text editor was vim, and boy was I lost on that! One day I'll learn it, just because it's a challenge.

I was looking for something else besides Nano to run in the terminal, and the micro editor is a step up from nano in my opinion. I did have to add a few new key-bindings to the bindings.json file, because anything involving shift defaults to the terminal, but that being said, I also don't know how to use escape sequences. If I understand escape sequences correctly, they signal the terminal not be invoked by certain keystrokes.

[April]

Ever tried Geany ? It with Puppy and always has been.

[wiak]

I was using KLV-Airedale-beta14 a lot and I noticed that the default text editor was vim, and boy was I lost on that! One day I'll learn it, just because it's a challenge.

I was looking for something else besides Nano to run in the terminal, and the micro editor is a step up from nano in my opinion. I did have to add a few new key-bindings to the bindings.json file, because anything involving shift defaults to the terminal, but that being said, I also don't know how to use escape sequences. If I understand escape sequences correctly, they signal the terminal not be invoked by certain keystrokes.

I presume you are meaning for an editor to run from the terminal since, yes, otherwise I use geany when on KLV-Airedale. That micro terminal editor (written in go language I believe) is a pretty nice terminal editor I see. Good find. I do use busybox vi when I have to when only have a console and no gui available, but I only know the basics of inserting and saving using vi - nothing more, just enough. Nano is 'okay' but a bit annoying somehow. I tried emacs once and thought 'forget it' - I'm not a masochist.

[geo_c]

Ever tried Geany ? It with Puppy and always has been.

Yes, I use Geany all the time! It's fantastic, but I'm talking about editors that actually run in the terminal similar to using Midnight Commander as a file manager. I've tried Nano, Tilde, Pico, Word Grinder (more of a word processor), and vim. Micro is a lot more my speed. Nano is okay, and Micro is actually a fork of inspired by Nano.

Geany is definitely the go-to gtk type code editor. I downloaded all the color-schemes for it. It handles every type of script or programming language. But, I'm in a phase of working out of the terminal for various reasons. At some point I'm looking to put together a very trimmed downed puppy using a handful of good terminal applications.

[geo_c]

I presume you are meaning for an editor to run from the terminal since, yes, otherwise I use geany when on KLV-Airedale. I tried emacs once and thought 'forget it' - I'm not a masochist.

I use Geany in KLV also, but certain applications opened text files in vim by default, and that's where I realized the extent of the learning curve for vim. Emacs operation looks the same or worse, but I never installed it to find out. It's like anything else software related, once the learning curve is bridged, then the application becomes a useful tool. But we can't master them all, so we have to pick and choose. It's similar to being a musician like myself, and realizing that I could learn any instrument I desire, because I understand music, but every instrument has it's own keystrokes and techniques to produce the pitches. So I can't play them all. I have to choose where to invest the time and energy.

[BarryK]

Download mp:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/x86/temp/mp.gz

Then, in a terminal:

# gunzip mp.gz
# chmod 755 mp
# ./mp
or, if you have a file handy, ex abiword.html:
# ./mp abiword.html
...to see the nice colour-highlighting

This is Minimum Profit text editor. Has a real nice drop-down menu and colour-highlighting.

Statically linked for a i686 CPU, and will run on any 32-bit or 64-bit x86 Linux OS.
It is 416KB expanded, but as it is statically-linked it has absolutely no dependencies and will run on anything.
I use it in the initrd, when dropout to a shell in the initrd.

[geo_c]

Download mp:
I use it in the initrd, when dropout to a shell in the initrd.

MP is actually built in to fossapup, and terminal applications like Calcurse and Midnight Commander open to it by default. It doesn't display in the terminal however, it opens in the xwin/gtk mode. MP is a good editor, but I don't like the look in gtk, (I don't like white backgrounds, they hurt my eyes) and I haven't been able to change the theme much in the .config file.

It occurs to me that I need to learn a little more about setting up urxvt terminal to my preferences. If mp actually displays in the terminal itself, where is that configured? /root/.xdefaults only contains the terminal color/display preferences. Or are the default terminal applications more of a system setting?

[williwaw]

..... but every instrument has it's own keystrokes........... I have to choose where to invest the time and energy.

mp keystrokes are as about intuitive as it gets.
But if you already use Midnight Commander, and you appreciate mouse support in the terminal,

just type mcedit at the prompt

and for music ncmpc

[williams2]

Edit: I did not quote the following quote. Mostly my post was about -txt mp option, and urxvt colours. Which is still there.

/usr/bin/mp-5

mp will run in text mode like this: mp -txt filename.txt

of course, it will run in text mode if X is not running.

For help: mp --help

You can select colors for urxvt, like:

urxvt -fg grey -bg black

You can configure the default colors in /root/.Xdefaults or in /root/.Xresources
or using the command line options,
or in a script like defaultterm or defaultterminal

You can right click a desktop (pinboard) icon,
like the console icon, select Edit item
and put in Arguments to pass options like -fg grey -bg black

mp has somewhat extensive documentation, see, for example:
http://triptico.com/software/mp.html

(for Puppy)

[geo_c]

mp keystrokes are as about intuitive as it gets.
But if you already use Midnight Commander, and you appreciate mouse support in the terminal,

just type mcedit at the prompt

and for for music ncmpc

I just typed mcedit, very nice! How did I miss that? Now I have even more options.

ncmpc returns 'command not found' on fossapup, I'll look for that to install.

mp is easy, it's a great editor. When I talk about learning curves I'm thinking vim and emacs specifically.

mp will run in text mode like this: mp -txt filename.txt

Well that was easy, thanks very much!

Let's see, what do I have now to run in the terminal?

minimum profit mp-5
minimum profit mp-3
mcedit
nano
micro
tilde
nice editor ne
worgrinder

[williwaw]

Or are the default terminal applications more of a system setting?

downloaded MC and found mp is used as the editor when choosing 4edit here also. It reads my environment variable for EDITOR, and brings up whatever it's set for. To find what your environment variables are, run
# printenv

see https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... to-sublime for some precautions about changing this variable globally and how to set it for running Midnight Commander

[Keef]

There is also ne 'the nice editor': https://ne.di.unimi.it/

[geo_c]

and for music ncmpc

I'm looking at this on github. I want it! It looks as if the newest version is .48, Fossapup's package manager has version .35, so I'm inclined to compile it. I happen to have the fossapup_devx.sfs loaded, also ninja, and I have to see about meson, don't think I have that installed, but my real question is:

How can I tell what version of C++ is on my system?

[BarryK]

The statically-linked 'mp' that I posted is version 3.3.17, as I don't like v5.
And it was compiled without gtk, only text-mode.

Code: Select all

# ./mp --help

Minimum Profit 3.3.17 - Programmer Text Editor
Copyright (C) 1991-2005 Angel Ortega <angel@triptico.com>
Aug 19 2020 10:11:23
This software is covered by the GPL license. NO WARRANTY.

Usage: mp [options] [file [file ...]]

Options:

 -t|--tag [tag] 	Edits the file where tag is defined
 -w|--word-wrap [col]	Sets wordwrapping in column col
 -ts|--tab-size [size]	Sets tab size
 -ai|--autoindent	Sets automatic indentation mode
 -l|--lang [lang]	Language selection
 -m|--mode [mode]	Syntax-hilight mode
 --col80		Marks column # 80
 -bw|--monochrome	Monochrome
 -tx|--text		Use text mode (instead of GUI)
 -sp|--spellcheck	Active spellchecking
 -h|--help		This help screen

 -hw|--hardware-cursor	Activates the use of hardware cursor
 --mouse		Activate mouse usage for cursor positioning
 -nt|--no-transparent	Disable transparent mode (eterm, aterm, etc.)
			
--mode: plain c perl sh ruby php sql ps python html xml po mail man ebuild grub mprc conf latex diff

Config file: /root/.mprc

[geo_c]

The statically-linked 'mp' that I posted is version 3.3.17, as I don't like v5.
And it was compiled without gtk, only text-mode.

Code: Select all

# ./mp --help
		
--mode: plain c perl sh ruby php sql ps python html xml po mail man ebuild grub mprc conf latex diff

Config file: /root/.mprc

Okay, I read a little bit about "statically linked" and I'm guessing this mp 3.3.17 is effectively a portable that I can place anywhere and run. Correct? Just chmod to make it executable.

I'm in!

[geo_c]

Download mp:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/x86/temp/mp.gz

This is Minimum Profit text editor. Has a real nice drop-down menu and colour-highlighting.

Yes this is nice, thank Barry!

[wiak]

I've used mp in the past and its pretty good (indeed it may be the best of the bunch, but the menu I get in the version I compiled is light grey and almost unreadable to my eyes and I don't know how to force close/quit the program either... edit: ctrl-q works). However, long ago I tried lots of commandline programs, trying to find one easily controlled via speech-despatcher/espeak for visually impaired and ended up using 'ne', well-named as the "Nice Editor".

It is available immediately from Ubuntu repos, and probably others: apt install ne
or can be compiled after: git clone https://github.com/vigna/ne

Actually, I lost track of what I had used (couldn't remember the name and lost my old foksyfeyer work...sigh). But have since come across it again!

Why is it so great? Well, it has a great Menu bar with lots of options, is small and hardly any dependencies. Using it is like using a GUI editor/simple_word_processor:

The ne can be a major tool for anyone who stumbles into vi unprepared. As well as common keyboard shortcuts, ne also provides a menu system accessible by double tapping the ‘esc’ key. This enables a user to navigate through all of the available functions.
...
ne is a brilliant editor for helping beginners getting started with Linux.

Simplifying the interface does not mean that ne sacrifices advanced features though. Useful tools such as the ability to search through the file for strings matching regular expressions, the ability to record and replay macros and syntax highlighting for various programing languages along with automatic bracket matching are maintained. There’s support for opening unlimited multiple files, although each appears as its own fullscreen window rather than being able to be edited side by side, as well as an unlimited undo/redo feature making mistake correction simple.

But, not so great for sighted developers maybe since I think it doesn't do syntax highlighting (EDIT: actually I just checked with a #/bin/sh file and it does also do 'some' syntax highlighting afterall). But do try it and hit esc followed by esc to see the menu (single esc to get back to your work). Worth reading its documentation too to see just how powerful it is in a package around 500kB.

[BarryK]

Okay, I read a little bit about "statically linked" and I'm guessing this mp 3.3.17 is effectively a portable that I can place anywhere and run. Correct? Just chmod to make it executable.

I'm in!

Yes, that's right, it doesn't require any libraries, is completely self-contained.
Will run on any old Linux OS and PC, right back to a 32-bit i686 CPU. Also on the latest gee-whiz PC.

[mikewalsh]

@geo_c :-

Emacs and vim have been around for ever. But there's nowt special about 'em. People seem to talk about them almost with reverence - or should that be annoyance?! - as though these items offer the only "pure" Linux experience to be had....

Mike.

[wiak]

There is also ne 'the nice editor': https://ne.di.unimi.it/

Sorry Keef, I just noticed you already posted above about ne, which I was also recommending later.

[geo_c]

There is also ne 'the nice editor': https://ne.di.unimi.it/

Sorry Keef, I just noticed you already posted above about ne, which I was also recommending later.

I installed the nice editor from the fossapup repos, and it is indeed nice. It even has a file browser for opening files. The color coding is good also.

[wiak]

Okay, I read a little bit about "statically linked" and I'm guessing this mp 3.3.17 is effectively a portable that I can place anywhere and run. Correct? Just chmod to make it executable.

I'm in!

Yes, that's right, it doesn't require any libraries, is completely self-contained.
Will run on any old Linux OS and PC, right back to a 32-bit i686 CPU. Also on the latest gee-whiz PC.

On my zorin system that static mp won't start. Gives error message:

Code: Select all

# mp --help
Error opening terminal: xterm-256color.

[BarryK]

Okay, I read a little bit about "statically linked" and I'm guessing this mp 3.3.17 is effectively a portable that I can place anywhere and run. Correct? Just chmod to make it executable.

I'm in!

Yes, that's right, it doesn't require any libraries, is completely self-contained.
Will run on any old Linux OS and PC, right back to a 32-bit i686 CPU. Also on the latest gee-whiz PC.

On my zorin system that static mp won't start. Gives error message:

Code: Select all

# mp --help
Error opening terminal: xterm-256color.

Try:

# TERM=xterm mp --help

Options are usually in /usr/share/terminfo

Or, do you have a different terminal, like sakura?

[rockedge]

I installed to test in a KLV-Airedale-Test-D (beta14 built with @wiak 's build script and a PLUG file.

Code: Select all

SSL_NO_VERIFY_PEER=true xbps-install -y micro

there is some sort of certificate problem causing SSL failure to update or reach the Void repos. Hence the line above to by-pass it.

Starts right up and I am playing around with it. It would be possible to make it the default shell text editor in KLV.

[rockedge]

@geo_c I have added micro to the PLUG file so it is built into KLV-Airedale from the start. The next beta15 will include it as well.

I like it more than vi very much since once I don't use it all of the time I forget how to actually use it for more than the most basic operations. more luck with nano but this seems better for easier config file editing in those "I can only use a console!" moments.

Good find Amigo (notice the Spanish! cool or what?). I would use "good find ese" but one needs to be careful with that one depending on what street gang is encountered.

[geo_c]

@geo_c I have added micro to the PLUG file so it is built into KLV-Airedale from the start. The next beta15 will include it as well.

I like it more than vi very much since once I don't use it all of the time I forget how to actually use it for more than the most basic operations. more luck with nano but this seems better for easier config file editing in those "I can only use a console!" moments.

Good find Amigo (notice the Spanish! cool or what?). I would use "good find ese" but one needs to be careful with that one depending on what street gang is encountered.

Which is why I don't attempt any foreign language anymore, as I learned when I was in Spain one time, the nuances can get you in trouble!

Nano is annoying on a couple of points. Now that I've been playing with micro, mp, mcedit, tilde, and ne, a winner is a tough choice, but I do like the easy-peasy config file in micro quite a bit. Micro's overall simplicity and familiar key-strokes are a big plus.

[williwaw]

@geo_c

are you running these terminal apps in a terminal emulator, such as xterm or urxvt
or
without X, using ctrl+alt F,2,3,4,5 etc?

[rockedge]

@geo_c To make micro the editor that opens instead of nvi do this:

Code: Select all

rm /usr/bin/vi
ln -s /sbin/micro  /usr/bin/vi

which removes the vi symlink to nvi and replaces it with a vi symlink to micro

so when I just click on something like f_00_Void_KLV_XFCE_no-kernel_WDLteam-RC5.plug it opens up in micro
in a xterm instance.

[geo_c]

@geo_c

are you running these terminal apps in a terminal emulator, such as xterm or urxvt
or
without X, using ctrl+alt F,2,3,4,5 etc?

I'm just using a terminal emulator for now (urxvt). As I get better with the keystrokes and operation of the various terminal apps I'm using, I'll boot without X, presumably for fun

[williwaw]

I'll boot without X, presumably for fun :roll:

I haven't taken the time with puppy, but there is a way to
config multiple terms as logins
change the font size in the framebuffer
enable mouse support
view pics, etc

the additional available screen area is helpful especially with some laptops