nano
A small, simple terminal text editor for Unix-like systems, part of the GNU project.
Liked for quick terminal edits that need almost no learning1234, as a simpler alternative to vim567, and some commenters have used it as their main editor for a decade or more.89 Caveats include missing code-navigation features like go-to-definition10 and, on Mac, "nano" sometimes being only a symlink to pico, so .nanorc settings don't work.11
Why people recommend it
Quick edits · 3
A go-to editor for fast, ad-hoc edits on the command line.
“Nano is my go-to whenever doing something quick in the terminal. It's quick, I don't need to learn how to use it”
“I use nano a lot on the commandline. For quick editing it is so much more convenient than vim.”
Show 1 more
“nano remains my go-to editor for many quick terminal operations”
Easy to learn · 3
Usable without learning it, unlike vi/vim, which some find too complicated.
“Nano is my go-to whenever doing something quick in the terminal. It's quick, I don't need to learn how to use it”
“I use nano a lot on the commandline. For quick editing it is so much more convenient than vim.”
Show 1 more
“using nano to never have to learn that atrocity”
Long-term use · 2
Some commenters have used it as their everyday editor for 10 to 15 years.
“I used pico or nano as my everyday unix coding editor for something like fifteen years”
“10 years, I've been using nano as my editor.”
Customizable · 3
Its nanorc config allows more customization, including key bindings, than many people realize.
“nano remains my go-to editor for many quick terminal operations”
“10 years, I've been using nano as my editor.”
Show 1 more
“nano is my go-to text editor, because it’s the default text editor for all our systems”
Default availability · 1
It is the default editor on some commenters' systems, which makes it a natural choice.
“nano is my go-to text editor, because it’s the default text editor for all our systems”
Caveats and dissent
No code navigation · 1
Lacks go-to-definition and fast jumping between sections of text for daily coding.
“I don't have anything against Nano”
Mac setup · 1
On Mac, nano may only be a symlink to pico, so you need to install real nano for .nanorc to work.
“It's also possible that you simply do NOT have nano installed at all, and just have the simlink from nano to pico by default.”
Outgrown · 3
Some users moved on to editors such as micro, ox, Flow, or vim.
“I used nano, micro, and ox in that order”
“nano remains my go-to editor for many quick terminal operations”
Show 1 more
“I used pico or nano as my everyday unix coding editor for something like fifteen years”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
From the makers not counted in the ranking
“I always wanted a truly open-source alternative to webcontainers.io, so we built one.”
Threads where it came up
- Customize Nano Text Editor (2022) 5 mentions
- NetBSD adds a new text editor called atto 2 mentions
- Mitos editor is a fork of Helix 1 mention
- Ask HN: Which software do you happily pay for every month? 1 mention
- The vi family 1 mention
- Node.js in the Browser 1 mention
Also written as Nano. Data: nano.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 13
“I used pico or nano as my everyday unix coding editor for something like fifteen years”
“I use nano a lot on the commandline. For quick editing it is so much more convenient than vim.”
“I don't have anything against Nano”
“using nano to never have to learn that atrocity”
“When I don't have a GUI available, I use micro, nano, joe.”
“should I switch to nano?”
“I used nano, micro, and ox in that order”
“nano is great though, I can recommend it for quick ad-hoc editing”
“nano is my go-to text editor, because it’s the default text editor for all our systems”
“10 years, I've been using nano as my editor.”
“nano remains my go-to editor for many quick terminal operations”
“It's also possible that you simply do NOT have nano installed at all, and just have the simlink from nano to pico by default.”
“Nano is my go-to whenever doing something quick in the terminal. It's quick, I don't need to learn how to use it”